7,000 COULD BE PAROLED IN 2004

MONTGOMERY -- More than 7,000 non-violent state convicts could be paroled
next year if the Legislature approves Gov. Bob Riley's proposal to increase
the board's membership and budget, a spokeswoman said.

Cynthia Dillard, assistant director of the three-member Board of Pardons
and Paroles, said Riley's proposal would add three members and one
alternate to the board and increase its budget by $10 million to ease
prison crowding.

Riley put the parole bill in his call for the special session that began
Monday to deal with a shortfall in state agencies. Lawmakers also
introduced bills to establish a statewide lottery, shorten the school year,
and levy a vehicle registration fee in Jefferson County to match federal
mass transit dollars. But those subjects were not in Riley's special
session call and have a lesser chance of passing since they require a
two-thirds majority.

Dillard said Riley's plan to expand the Board of Pardons and Paroles would
save the state millions because it costs $1.79 per day to supervise an
inmate on parole but $28 per day to keep the same inmate in prison.

"It's the only thing that can be done if the state can't raise taxes. It's
one of the ways they can cut," said Dillard.

Riley's proposal, filed Monday by state Sen. E.B. McClain, D-Brighton, got
a less than enthusiastic reaction from the Senate's president pro-tem, Sen.
Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, however. "A lot of us are not comfortable at this
time with that," Barron said. "We're going to sit down and look at ways we
can expedite the pardon and parole process, maybe at less cost than $10
million. We're on the same page. It's what we want to achieve."

Riley's plan would increase the parole agency's budget from $13.9 million
to $24.2 million. It would add 143 new employees, including 107 parole
officers, three new board members and one alternate. It also would add new
equipment and two 150-man transition centers.

The extra officers would bring caseloads from more than 200 parolees per
officer down to 125, Dillard said.

Brian Corbett, a spokesman for Prison Commissioner Donal Campbell, said
even if the state paroled 7,000 inmates, its prison population might be
reduced by as little as 5,000 because more inmates continue to flow into
the system. Alabama prisons, which now house more than 28,000 inmates,
historically have increased by 1,000 or more inmates per year, and more
than 600 inmates are in county jails around the state awaiting transfers to
prisons, Corbett said.

If 7,000 inmates were to be paroled next year, the state could bring back
the 1,725 inmates now housed in private prisons in Louisiana and
Mississippi, Corbett said.

Prison officials then would try to reduce the population evenly throughout
state prisons, some of which are packed to more than 250 percent of their
design capacity, Corbett said.

A prison such as Ventress Correctional Facility in Clayton, was designed
for 650 inmates but averaged 1,635 in July, may be brought down to 150
percent of its capacity.

"It would be a better environment for the work staff and a safer
environment for the work staff and the inmates and the public," Corbett said.

Other bills introduced:

Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, introduced a bill to establish a statewide
lottery and divide the proceeds evenly between the General Fund and public
schools. "We need money," Holmes said. "The state is broke."

But Barron said he saw "absolutely no chance" for the lottery bill and
other revenue-raising measures in this special session. Barron said he
thought lawmakers would be willing to debate a lottery later. But last
week's overwhelming defeat of Riley's $1.2 billion tax package makes
legislators hesitant to debate revenue-raising bills, he said.

"The people spoke and we heard them clearly," Barron said.

Other bills introduced would:

Shorten the Alabama public school year from a minimum of 175 days to 150 days.

Have Alabamians vote on a constitutional amendment to allow the display the
Ten Commandments in government buildings.

Prohibit state employees from being laid off if the agency they work for
employs contract employees to do similar jobs.

Levy a Jefferson County vehicle registration fee ranging from about $10 to
$118 to match federal mass transit dollars set aside for the Birmingham area.