OHIO'S PRISONERS TO INCREASE 20%

Growth Is Faster Than Other States

Columbus - Ohio's prison population is expected to grow by 20 percent over
the next five years, which would give the state the highest number of
inmates in the Midwest, replacing Michigan, according to a national report.

With a projected 57,000 inmates by 2011, Ohio's prison population would
grow faster than that of any other state its size or larger, according to
the Pew Charitable Trust's "Public Safety and Public Spending" report
released Wednesday.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Ohio corrections director Terry Collins. "We
seem to be seeing more people doing drug abuse and drug possession and
crimes to try to get drugs . . . where it is not violence against a
particular person but violence against society."

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction supplied figures for
the report, as did other states, allowing for side-by-side comparisons of
the 50 states.

Most states are expected to experience double-digit percentage increases,
some well beyond their own earlier projections, according to the report. By
2011, the number of inmates in state prisons could swell to 480 per 100,000
people, up from 447 in 2006.

The reasons for the growth nationally are similar to those factors fueling
Ohio's increases: more female prisoners and tougher sentencing.

And the price tag for the rising prison populations could be high in terms
of staffing and construction of more prison space.

"It's an expensive proposition to put them in prison, and to keep them in
prison is not cheap," said Collins, who added that Ohio has not yet begun
to understand what the long-term inmate projections might mean for the
prison budget.

Nationally, the report estimates about 192,000 people will go to prison
over the next five years, costing states more than $27 billion in
additional operations and capital costs. Locking up more criminals does not
guarantee a reduction in crime, the report states.

An official behind the report said rather than settling for spending more
on new prisons and hiring additional guards, states should consider how
better to combat crime. One example: enhance re-entry programs for
ex-offenders to cut recidivism rates.

States "are beginning to question whether huge additional investments in
prisons are the most effective and economical way of combating crime," said
Susan Urahn, of the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"The challenge for state policy makers," she said, "is to ensure that
taxpayers are getting a strong return on their investments in corrections."