PRISON FUNDING FIGURES TELLING

A new survey on prison funding reveals much about Alabama's situation, in
both fiscal and correctional terms. In essence, it finds that the state is
doing a lot with a little in comparison to other states, but the figures
also indicate the severity of the problems Alabama confronts in its prison
system.

In fiscal 2003, the budget for the Alabama Department of Corrections was
$291 million for a system with nearly 28,000 inmates. The per-inmate cost
was about $10,400, lower than in any other state. A lot lower.

In South Carolina, for example, the per-inmate cost was about $12,350. In
Arkansas, it was about $16,900. In North Carolina, it was about $27,750. In
Tennessee, it was about $28,700.

Clearly, thrift is not an issue in Alabama, at least not in the sense that
taxpayers should be concerned about inefficient use of funds in the prison
system. But taxpayers also should understand that the wide disparities in
state funding levels exist for significant reasons.

Other states, recognizing that few inmates will die in prison and that most
will return to society at some point, invest in programs that increase the
odds of making that return to society a successful one. Arkansas, for
example, spends 10 times what Alabama does on such programs -- substance
abuse treatment, anger management, parenting skills and so forth.

Other states accept the financial responsibility for adequate staffing of
prisons. In the case of Tennessee, security costs are 175 percent higher
than in Alabama, primarily because the state adheres to strict staffing
standards. Here, however, prisons are chronically short-staffed, creating
higher risk for corrections personnel, for inmates and, potentially, for
the public.

Another reason for the disparities, and perhaps the one with the greatest
long-term implications for Alabama, is the fact that Alabama incarcerates
more people than other states. For example, Alabama has only about 77
percent of Tennessee's population, yet its prison population is about 152
percent of Tennessee's. Alabama has only about 54 percent of North
Carolina's population, but its prison population is about 83 percent of
North Carolina's.

These figures reflect a sentencing structure that favors incarceration over
other alternatives. Reforming that structure is a critical element in
addressing Alabama's prison problems. Without that, Alabama faces only such
unattractive options as building and staffing vast amounts of new prison
space, or continuing to shoehorn inmates into existing facilities, creating
still more dangerous situations and inviting another stretch of federal
court intervention.