Legislature 2007:

STATE SEEKS $97 MILLION INCREASE FOR CORRECTIONS

The state is asking taxpayers to fork over an additional $97 million
to keep convicted felons in treatment, out of trouble or behind bars.

A 38 percent jump from two years ago in the Department of
Correction's budget is one of the largest proposed budget increases
heading into the 2007 legislative session.

Part of the reason is because of a $27 million shortfall in the 2007
fiscal year. There are 609 more offenders in the corrections system
than was budgeted for, said corrections Spokesman Bob Anez.

These days, the agency is emphasizing treatment and rehabilitation
instead of a lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach -- a
philosophy supported by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and aimed at preventing
crimes while cutting down on costs.

Just over half of the correction's $349.8 million budget is slated
for community-based corrections such as adding pre-release beds,
probation and parole officers and chemical dependency counselors. But
start-up costs are pricey.

While the agency's primary concern this session is securing adequate
funding to runs its programs, a number of lawmakers have introduced
public safety legislation to fund the increasingly popular drug
courts, strengthen sex offender laws and broaden the definition of
child pornography.

Police are doing a better job at catching criminals, judges are
handing out heftier sentences and the Legislature has a tendency to
increase penalties over time, said Rep. Tim Callahan, D-Great Falls.

All considered, the Department of Corrections is managing a heftier
caseload. Officials estimate Montana's inmate population will see an
annual 6 percent growth over the next biennium.

In 2005, lawmakers increased the state correction's budget by 16
percent, adding an additional $35 million to the pot. That, however,
was less than the agency requested and now state officials are back
asking for the rest.

A large portion of the governor's proposed correction's budget --
approximately 46 percent -- still directs money towards secure
facilities, but the state is slowly moving away from routinely
locking up offenders.

Of the total $160.1 million proposed for the Montana State Prison in
Deer Lodge and Montana Women's Prison in Billings, $21.5 million is
slated for expanding the number of prison beds and $2.4 million to
cover overtime costs.

"We don't have (prison) beds for everybody," said Callahan. "We
haven't added a significant number of secure beds for awhile."

Statistics show it costs approximately $70 a day to house prison
inmates and only $3.75 per day for offenders on probation.

Of the total $349.8 million proposed corrections budget, $106.6
million -- or one out of every three dollars -- is directed toward
community-based correctional programs.

About $10.6 million in the next biennium will pay for 120 beds in the
two new methamphetamine treatment facilities located in Lewistown and
Boulder. Construction is underway on Lewistown's 80-bed men's
facility, which is scheduled to open June 1.

"We are on target," said Mike Thatcher, head of Community Counseling
and Correctional Services, Inc., which will run the treatment facility.

Staff training will take place in mid-May. It will cost $117 a day to
operate the facility, Thatcher said.

In addition, the state is asking lawmakers to hire 36 additional
probation and parole officers, at a cost of $3.2 million. An average
adult probation and parole officer monitors 80 -- 100 offenders at a
time, said Callahan, who works as a juvenile probation and parole officer.

The state took control of transporting inmates in July following five
escapes in the last two years using contracted agencies. Nine
transportation officers will cost the state about $993,000 over two years.

Cascade County Sheriff David Castle expects to spend a significant
amount of time in Helena advocating for tougher seatbelt laws, urging
lawmakers to maintain funding for search and rescue at its current
level and to help volunteer firefighters get compensated for
responding to fires on state and federal land.

All of these issues will be in addition to Castle's unwavering
interest in convincing the state to increase the per diem at
Montana's three regional jails, which house state inmates.

Chairman of the Law and Justice Interim Committee Rep. John Parker,
D-Great Falls, proposed toughening child pornography laws to include
nearly all pictures of half-exposed children used for arousal
purposes. The bill is at the request of County Attorney Brant Light, he said.

Parker also submitted a bill to keep inmates from profiting off their
crimes. The proposed legislation is in response to convicted sex
offender Nathan Bar-Jonah, who put his shoes, hair and a prison towel
up for sale on an Internet auction site.

Lawmakers suspect the topic of sex offenders will draw a lot of
attention this session. Sex offenders are a serious public concern
and a drain on the corrections budget, Callahan said.

"There is a misconception about the various levels of sex offenders,"
he said. "Everyone thinks all of them are pedophiles, but only a very
small percent actually are. The community looks at them all the same,
but when you look at needs and costs, there is a great difference."