FEDERAL PRISONS PACKED WITH ALMOST 165,000

WASHINGTON - At a time when tight budgets have forced many states to
consider the early release of hundreds of inmates to cut costs, the federal
prison system is bursting at the seams and ranks as the largest in the nation.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported a population of nearly 165,000 this
month, making the system larger than perennial prison giants California and
Texas. (Related story:
(http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-22-drugs-usat_x.htm Drugs
getting into federal prisons too easily)

At least part of the increase, officials say, is because of a growing pool
of non-citizen offenders who represent nearly one-third of the federal
inmate population.

The majority have been convicted of drug-related crimes, and their numbers
jumped from 22% in 1998 to 28% in 2002.

The Bureau of Prisons is one of the fastest-growing arms of the federal
government. In 1980, the bureau's budget was $330 million, and there were
24,000 inmates in 44 prisons. In 2002, the budget was $4.6 billion, and
there were 102 prisons. Eleven more federal prisons are in various stages
of construction.

"Our growth and population management has been one of the fundamental
issues we've had to address," bureau spokesman Dan Dunne says.

More than a decade of new legislation expanding federal jurisdiction,
strict sentencing guidelines, the abolishment of parole and the recent
transfer of more than 8,000 inmates from the custody of the District of
Columbia has ensured steady growth. The system's population is projected to
reach nearly 190,000 in 2005.

The growth comes as several states look to dismantle vast departments built
during the 1990s.

In California, more non-violent drug offenders are being diverted to
treatment programs, legislators are floating plans for the early release of
felons and prison construction has been slowed to accommodate deep cuts in
prison budgets. Prisons spokesman Margot Bach says good-time credits were
increased Jan. 1, allowing inmates two days credit for every good day
served. And more low-level security prisoners are being approved to
participate in community service projects.

Texas prisons spokesman Larry Fitzgerald says the state's inmate population
has been level for the past three years. "We're not letting people walk out
the door, but we are being asked to tighten our belts," Fitzgerald says.

Judith Greene, a New York-based corrections policy researcher, says state
prison systems are considering drastic measures because they generally
represent larger portions of state budgets.

In Iowa, Greene says, officials were discussing a massive prison lockdown
plan and a furlough of prison guards to cut costs. "There are a lot of
Draconian things being discussed in the states," she says, "but the federal
system is on quite a consistent upward curve."