PRISONS

Fiscal Prudence Includes Policies

The layoff of up to 100 Department of Corrections employees is only a
small step toward fiscal prudence that could be taken to bring the
state's corrections budget under control

Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Wednesday that 90 employees,
from guards to teachers, are being laid off, with 10 more expected by
month's end and maybe more later.

That's to save about $3.52 million annually, after MDOC had its budget
cut by nearly $20 million by the 2004 Legislature. But layoffs really
aren't the answer, especially when simple policy decisions could save
much more money. Mississippi needs to use more alternatives to
incarceration.

In the 2004 session, lawmakers made a new effort to fund statewide
drug courts. State Auditor Phil Bryant calculates that just 500
participants could save the state up to $5.4 million annually. That's
a good policy approach.

The biggest expense, though, is the 1995 so-called "Truth in
Sentencing" law requiring prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of
their sentences before being eligible for parole.

The federal rule upon which it was modeled applied only to serious
offenses, but Mississippi applied it to all crimes.

House Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone, D-Carthage, and Senate
Corrections Chairman Robert "Bunky" Huggins, R-Greenwood, have said
they will review sentencing laws this summer - including this one.

How big an impact is this law? Inmate numbers swelled from 12,474 in
1995 to more than 20,000 this year, with the MDOC budget going from
$109.6 million in 1995 to $266.1 million for the fiscal year that
begins July 1.

The budget will continue to swell with the state's current policies
that require more prison cells rather than using common-sense
alternatives to incarceration.

Laying off employees is a pittance by comparison to what could be
saved by better corrections policies. That's a political decision that
only legislators can make. Until they do, Mississippi will continue to
pay a high price for prisons.

(Sidebar)

Savings

Prison officials expect to save $3.52 million annually through
layoffs, but enrolling only 500 offenders in drug courts could save
$5.4 million annually. The "Truth in Sentencing" law has cost the
state about $150 million.