PRISON BOARD HEARS HOW SYSTEM IS HANDLING BOOM

Paroles Have Been Quickened; Juvenile Unit Converted For Adults

AUSTIN - As Texas' prisons run out of space, officials are taking measures
to accommodate a rapidly growing prisoner population.

"We're experiencing unprecedented growth right now," said Gary Johnson,
executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He also
told the agency's board Friday, "Sometime in 2004, we think we may be
needing to lease beds [from county jails] again."

The criminal justice board offered some relief by approving the conversion
of the Hamilton Unit near Bryan from a juvenile facility to an adult prison
that will house 1,000 inmates.

Renovation of the unit will cost about $1 million, and it is expected to
open in the late fall. The Texas Youth Commission began transferring 375
juveniles from there to other facilities about a month ago, and less than
200 remain, commission spokeswoman Pamela Ward said.

The board also approved the addition of 660 beds at five state jails.

With 147,926 prisoners, the system is 2,274 beds shy of its maximum
capacity and has passed its optimal operating capacity of 97.5 percent.
That is the figure prison officials say allows for the most efficient
prison operation.

As more prisoners come in the front door, officials are hoping to send more
out the back door.

Last month the parole approval rate jumped to 30 percent, compared with 25
percent over the last two fiscal years, said Gerald Garrett, chairman of
the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

The review of parole applications has been sped up and the parole board is
considering increasing the number of cases considered for parole. Such a
move would benefit mainly nonviolent offenders sentenced to five or fewer
years in prison, Mr. Garrett said.

There is also the option of paroling elderly prisoners and those who would
be deported if released, but Mr. Garret said he wasn't sure that was a good
idea. The board would have to be certain such offenders weren't a threat to
public safety, he said.

"It is not our intent to abandon common sense," Mr. Garrett said. "[The]
parole board wants to be responsive to these new pressures without becoming
irresponsible."

As officials acted to increase capacity, some warned that proposed budget
cuts would undercut any gains. The department had to cut $172 million from
this year's budget and $586 million for 2004 and 2005.

Those cuts could halve probation spending. That will translate to massive
layoffs of probation officers and the disappearance of programs that keep
people out of prison, said Beaumont Senior District Judge Larry Gist, who
heads the board's judicial advisory council.

"We have been decapitated and disemboweled," Judge Gist said as he appealed
to board members to take his concerns to legislators.

Probation officers handling 150 cases each would be inundated with 150 to
200 more. And if probation officers and programs are stretched thin,
prosecutors trying to ensure the public's safety are more likely to seek
prison sentences over probation.

To address such concerns, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will ask
the Legislature to exempt from the budget cuts some programs, including
those for probation, sex offender treatment, substance abuse and health
care, spokesman Larry Todd said.

The department plans to announce about 200 employee reductions next week,
and if the exemptions are denied, that figure could increase to about 850,
Mr. Todd said.

Mr. Johnson, the department's executive director, told the board that he
was confident that the legislature and state leaders would act to preserve
viable probation and parole departments.

But, he added: "We may be doing more with less."