INDIANA PRISON CROWDING IS CALLED WORST IN DECADES

State officials say crowding in Indiana's 24 prisons has reached levels not
seen in decades, potentially forcing them to place bunks in prison
classrooms and recreation areas.

"This is the worst crowding we've faced in at least 40 years," said
Department of Correction spokeswoman Pam Pattison.

Larry Landis, a member of the Prison Sentencing Commission established by
the General Assembly in August, goes even further. "This is the worst it's
ever been," he said.

The state's 10 largest prisons are housing thousands more inmates than they
were built to hold, according to new statistics released by the Department
of Correction. Indiana prisons now have adequate space for about 16,000
offenders but hold nearly 23,000.

Although prison officials say they have not yet seen an increase in
violence, they acknowledge they are worried the crowding will escalate
tensions among inmates and imperil staff.

The last time state prisons were as crowded was in the 1960s, when
officials moved bunks into gymnasiums and other prison spaces, Pattison said.

Officials already have canceled inmate drug-treatment sessions and
education training at prisons in Rockville and Putnamville because of a
lack of teachers and classroom space.

There are waiting lists for jobs and education programs, leaving many
inmates idle, Pattison said, and that presents a safety issue.

The state expects the adult male inmate population will grow until 2008,
when it will reach more than 28,000. Taxpayers pay nearly $21,000 a year to
house, clothe and feed each inmate.

Building more cells is not an option, state leaders say. The state faces an
$810million budget deficit. Legislators already have capped the Department
of Correction's two-year operating budget at about $1billion.

There is additional space for 2,300 inmates at prisons in New Castle and
Miami, but the correction department lacks the $37.5million needed to
operate the additional cells.

The combination of prison crowding and the state's fiscal problems has some
calling for easing penalties for certain drug offenses. Mandatory drug
sentences and other anti-crime measures have swelled prison populations in
Indiana and throughout the country, said Landis, executive director of the
Indiana Public Defender Council.

A person found carrying three grams of cocaine in Indiana faces up to 20
years in prison, Landis said. One gram of cocaine is the size of a packet
of sugar. "That is more time than someone would get if they broke into a
house and raped a woman," Landis said.

Legislators say they hope to address the issue in the full legislative
session that starts in January. Steps could include allowing judges more
flexibility in sentencing and letting more inmates enter work-release programs.

"We are going to have to do more community corrections, because this is
something we just can't build our way out of," said Rep. William Crawford,
D-Indianapolis, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

There's a political risk of appearing soft on crime, acknowledged Senate
President Pro Tem Robert Garton, R-Columbus. But he said the issue should
be considered.

"It's time to look at the (mandatory) sentences (for certain crimes),
because that is causing a lot of your prison buildup," Garton said.