IOWA'S PRISON SPENDING IS OUT OF HAND

Getting tough on crime has been tough on Iowa taxpayers.

It costs an average of $23,367 per year to keep an inmate
incarcerated in an Iowa prison. If that isn't bad enough, growth of
Iowa's prison population over the next five years is expected to
outpace that of all but one surrounding Midwest state -- South Dakota
- -- a new study has found.

Iowa's nine prisons held about 8,800 convicts at the end of last
year. By the end of 2011, the prison population is expected to grow
to more than 10,000.

It's embarrassing for Iowa to be a "leader" in locking people up.

How can Iowa quell that growth?

- -- Lawmakers should take a fresh look at this state's
criminal-justice policies, especially mandatory minimum sentences for
certain crimes. That ties the hands of judges and keeps some people
behind bars longer than they need to be there -- with taxpayers
footing the bill.

- -- Lawmakers should spend more on substance-abuse treatment, which
would help keep people out of prison in the first place and, as a
result, save money in the long haul.

About 80 percent of Iowa prisoners have been identified as having a
substance-abuse problem. Since 2003, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller
has asked the Legislature to increase funding for drug treatment and
prevention, to no avail. He's doing so again this session.

He has said the No. 1 thing this state can do to fight crime is to
fight drugs, and the best way to do that is with adequate drug treatment.

Lawmakers should finally listen.

- -- This state has done a good job of using community-based
corrections programs, which include halfway houses, to help keep
people out of prison. But mandatory-minimum sentencing prevents
judges from directing people to community-based programs -- they're
sent directly to prison instead. The state should do all it can to
get criminals rehabilitated while keeping them in less-costly
community programs.

The bottom line is that getting tough on crime, especially drug
crimes, has accomplished little except fueling the growth of this
state's prison population. In recent years, about one-fourth of
inmates entered prison for drug crimes.

It's time for Iowa to change course and reevaluate spending priorities.

The more Iowa spends on prisons, the less there is for public schools
or for health care programs for low-income children. Iowans should be
furious that this state spends more than $23,000 apiece locking up
growing numbers of people each year when there are less costly and
more effective alternatives.

Giving judges sentencing discretion and funding drug treatment and
alternatives to prison should be top priorities for this year's Legislature.