PRISONS BUDGET'S GOAL IS NO INCREASE IN INMATES

The State's Corrections Director Says Careful Selection Of More
Low-Risk Prisoners For Release Is The Key

Iowa's prisons would attempt to maintain an unofficial ceiling of
about 8,600 inmates through at least 2007 under a $319 million annual
budget proposed Thursday by the Iowa Board of Corrections.

Public safety in Iowa can be protected even as increased numbers of
inmates are paroled or diverted from prison by carefully selecting
more low-risk prisoners for release, said Iowa Corrections Director
Gary Maynard.

"We are not changing the criteria or reaching deeper down into the
barrel - we still have the same quality of offenders that are being
recommended," Maynard said.

Prison officials last month recommended about 525 inmates for parole
- - which was a record - although only a little more than half were
granted releases, Maynard said. An increase in releases is needed to
maintain a steady prison population if there is an increase in inmate
admissions.

The number of inmates at the state's nine prisons has generally
remained stable at about 8,600 for 2 1/2 years. One goal has been to
place more offenders in less-costly community corrections programs,
such as parole and probation, which currently supervise about 30,000
offenders in Iowa.

The Rev. Carlos Jayne, a retired United Methodist minister who is a
lobbyist for criminal justice reform groups, said tight state budgets
in recent years have forced state officials to curb the growth of the
prison population, which had soared in recent years.

In September 1990, Iowa had 3,867 inmates in its prison system. That
grew to 6,348 in 1995 and 7,776 in September 2000.

"This state has always overincarcerated people," Jayne said. "There
are a lot of nonviolent people in prison who can handle getting out
if they have the right things out there in the community for them in
terms of treatment and getting jobs and education. The communities
are still lacking in all those, but now they are beginning to address
those issues."

The budget approved by the board Thursday will be forwarded to Gov.
Tom Vilsack and state lawmakers for consideration in the 2006 session
of the Legislature, which reconvenes in January.

The board's proposed budget would represent a spending increase of
nearly $27 million, or 9.2 percent, from the department's current
operating budget. It anticipates the hiring of 235 additional state
employees, for a total department staff of 4,292.

Deputy Corrections Director John Baldwin told the board that more
than half of the proposed spending increase would be used to staff
and operate a new 178-bed medical and special-needs facility under
construction at the state prison at Oakdale. Lawmakers approved
construction of the expansion in an effort to address the state's
growing population of inmates who are mentally ill or have special
medical problems.

Iowa's prison population this week stood at 8,720 inmates, 21 percent
more than capacity. Despite some crowding, Maynard said he didn't
anticipate federal court intervention in Iowa's prison system on the
ground that inmates' living conditions constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

"I think we are well within our ability to manage the population
right now," Maynard told the corrections board.

One potential threat to the Department of Corrections' budget plans
is the rising price of natural gas, Baldwin warned. He said the
agency currently spends about $2 million annually on natural gas for
corrections facilities. A predicted increase of 40 percent this
winter in fuel costs could raise that expense by $800,000.

Corrections officials plan to meet to study their options for
addressing the natural gas price issue, Baldwin said.