INMATE NUMBERS DOWN IN STATE

The number of inmates in Iowa prisons is down, due in part to a drop
in the number of prison terms and fewer offenders returning for
parole or probation violations, corrections officials said.

As of June 31, which marked the end of Iowa's 2008 fiscal year, the
state prisons housed 8,740 inmates.

That's down 66 inmates from the year before and marks only the third
annual decline in 12 years, said Department of Corrections Director
John Baldwin.

The 1,800 new commitments to Iowa prisons were down 162 placements
from the previous year and was the lowest total since fiscal 1997.
Baldwin called it a "significant" decline.

He said the inmate counts for both men and woman were down from the
previous year, but it's difficult to tell if Iowans were committing
fewer major crimes or if the drop was related to plea bargains or if
other factors were involved.

Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber said his office continues
to carry a large caseload and it is unclear if crime in Pottawattamie
County is down. He could not produce accurate statistics for his
office from the previous two years because of a change to the
computer tracking system.

"Anecdotally, it seems that filings overall are down," Wilber said.
"But I don't think that transfers over to less work or less crime."

Wilber said Assistant County Attorney Dan McGinn has handled more
sexual abuse cases recently, but pinpointing why that is the case is difficult.

"It is tough to generalize because so many factors go into it,"
Wilber said. "Is society more aware of (sexual abuse) or better at
reporting it? I don't know."

Wilber, who sits on the board of directors for the Iowa County
Attorneys Association, said county attorneys across the state are
aware that the Department of Corrections is above recommended
capacity. "The Department of Corrections has said, 'we can go this
far,' but no further," Wilber said. "Every (prisoner) we put in, we
know that one gets out."

Iowa's prison system has a designed capacity of 7,414 beds. The
record high in Iowa's prison population was recorded on Oct. 3 at
8,940 inmates. This year, the Legislature approved $130 million for
prison construction. That includes replacing the Iowa State
Penitentiary in Fort Madison and upgrading the women's prison at Mitchellville.

Baldwin believed that the state's investment in community-based
corrections was "paying off." He said there were 43 fewer prison
admissions involving probation revocations and a decline of 53
parolees returning to prison.

Because of the number of drug and violent crime incarcerations,
Wilber said persons who commit property crimes without mandatory
minimum sentences are unlikely to be imprisoned. Statewide, and even
nationwide, more property crimes convictions are being handled by
community corrections, Wilber added.

Community corrections and drug courts provide many benefits, both for
the criminal and for the taxpayer.

"It is a lot cheaper," Wilber said. "I think that it costs around
$5,000 a year to supervise someone in drug court versus $30,000 a
year in prison. So if someone successfully completes drug court in
two years versus a 10-year prison sentence, we are talking about
saving over a quarter of a million dollars."

However, at the same time that prison populations are decreasing,
Wilber said drug court program applications are also on the decline
for a variety of reasons. Wilber speculated that one reason might be
the percentage of a sentence that offenders now spend in prison.

Wilber said people who don't want to have a felony on their record
continue to take advantage of the drug court program, which - if
completed - erases the felony. Unfortunately, many people arrested on
drug charges already have felonies on their record, so the shorter
sentence is more appealing.

"Offenders know if they go to prison on a 10-year sentence, they
might serve one to one-and-a-half years. Why plead guilty - and have
potentially a 50-year sentence hanging over your head - while you
still have to successfully complete a two-year program?" he said.
"Because prison sentences are revolving so fast there is less incentive."

Over the short term, Wilber said it was impossible to get an accurate
snapshot of a clear source or trend in declining incarcerations. But
any decline is good, he said.

"Less people overall incarcerated is a good thing," he said, but
quickly added, "assuming the system hasn't vastly changed on the law
enforcement or prosecution side of the equation."