PAROLES CAN'T FIX CROWDED PRISONS

Corrections Chief Says Early Releases Won't Have Impact

A plan to parole about 5,000 Alabama prisoners in response to the state's
budget crisis still won't fix the worst problems at the most crowded
prisons, Alabama's corrections chief said Friday.

Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell told the Alabama Sentencing
Commission that most of the parolees will come from work-release centers,
which tend to be less crowded and less costly to run than secure prisons.

"If it plays out the way I anticipate ... it's definitely not going to
relieve our overcrowding," Campbell said in an interview Friday afternoon.

"It's not going to impact our secure institutions," he said.

Alabama houses about 3,000 inmates in work-release centers across the
state. Most work jobs during the day and return to a facility at night. The
Corrections Department collects 40 percent of the inmates' pay to help
cover the costs of incarceration.

Although work-release costs $20 million a year to operate, it generates $17
million in revenue for the department, Campbell said. So the programs cost
about $3 million to run.

Alabama's higher security lockups are much more expensive, generate less
income and many are crowded to double capacity or more.

More than 23,600 prisoners are packed into state prisons designed to house
12,387. Alabama pays private prisons in Louisiana and Mississippi to house
1,720 more prisoners.

After his tax plan failed in September, Gov. Bob Riley pushed a plan to
expand the parole board, hire new parole officers and parole more prisoners
to cut costs. Later this year, hearings should begin for the first round of
nonviolent felons to be considered for early paroles.

Inmates serving longer sentences and those convicted of violent crimes will
not be eligible for early parole.

Campbell said he never anticipated the increased paroles solving the prison
problems. Instead, the state needs long-range solutions and sentencing
reforms, he said.

To that end, the Alabama Sentencing Commission is honing its legislative
recommendations for the 2004 session, said Commission Director Lynda Flynt.

Among the proposals under consideration that were discussed at Friday's
meeting:

Adjusting state sentencing guidelines for marijuana possession. A
commission study comparing states found that Alabama's penalties were
comparatively steep for marijuana possession.

Drafting bills allowing geriatric and medical release of certain inmates to
save health-care costs and allow sickly and elderly prisoners to be with
their families.

Increasing to 40 percent the percentage of pay that community corrections
inmates pay to the state, up from 25 percent.

Increasing transition centers for newly released inmates who do not live in
halfway houses and are not under the oversight of parole officers.
Currently, a prisoner who serves his entire sentence can be released, free
and clear with no supervision. Parole officials say transition centers
could help ease long-term inmates back into society.