STATE'S INCARCERATION RATE NEAR THE TOP

JACKSON - Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps believes it's time to
look at alternatives to lengthy prison sentences with Mississippi
having the second-highest incarceration rate in the nation.

Mississippi imprisoned 743 inmates per 100,000 population in 2002,
according to the latest Bureau of Justice statistics. Only Louisiana
had a higher rate at 794 per 100,000.

Epps believes the state's truth-in-sentencing law is one of the
reasons for Mississippi's rate. The law currently requires that
inmates convicted of major crimes serve at least 85 percent of their
sentence before they are paroled.

Lawmakers approved the law in 1994 after the federal government
offered money to states that would implement such rules for inmates
convicted of murder, manslaughter, rape and other crimes.

The rules were relaxed in 2001 for first-time, nonviolent
offenders.

Federal statistics show Mississippi had 12,251 prisoners under federal
or state jurisdiction in 1995 compared with 21,397 in 2002. There are
currently 20,481 inmates in state prisons, according to MDOC's Web
site.

In addition, there are about 24,000 prisoners under supervision in
community corrections programs, Epps said .

Gov.-elect Haley Barbour said he would oppose any attempts to weaken
the truth-in-sentencing law. Barbour said "some suggest releasing
prisoners or not sending criminals to jail at all. These are the wrong
answers to the question of how to fix the problems in the corrections
department.

"I propose that we manage the prison system better by utilizing
private and regional jails. They have proven they can save taxpayers'
money."

Epps, citing figures from the Performance Evaluation Expenditure
Review Commit-tee, said it cost $37.88 a day to house an inmate for
fiscal year 2002. He said the total cost to supervise someone on
parole or probation is $1.72 a day.

He agreed that housing prisoners at private facilities is cheaper than
in state prisons. For instance, it costs $28.50 per inmate per day at
the Corrections Corporation of America facility in Tutwiler. However,
Epps said the difference is that the CCA facility doesn't offer
vocational and educational programs and it doesn't handle sick inmates.