500 STATE PRISONERS MAY GO FREE

Patton Orders Plan To Reduce Corrections Costs

Gov. Paul Patton, citing the state's looming budget crisis, yesterday
ordered corrections officials to draw up a plan for the early release of as
many as 500 inmates to get prison costs under control.

Patton told officials to have a plan ready by late tomorrow for releasing
nonviolent offenders who are near the end of their sentences. The state
pays counties to house many of them in their jails.

The governor said in an interview that he expects county jails to bear the
brunt of the cuts. The state pays jailers about $28 per day to house
nonviolent inmates convicted of offenses such as drug crimes or theft.

"Everybody we take out of a county jail is a direct reduction of state
expense," Patton said.

If the state carries out the plan, it would be the first mass early release
of prisoners since 1935, when Gov. Ruby Laffoon commuted the sentences of
560 inmates to ease prison crowding.

Savings could be as much as $5 million a year if the state removes 500
inmates from county jails.

But cuts to county jail budgets could be deeper because the state also is
considering cutting the rate it pays by $1.90 per day -- which could result
in additional savings to the state but losses to the counties, said Oldham
County Jailer Mike Simpson, a board member of the Kentucky Jailers Association.

Simpson was among jailers and county judges who met with Patton last week.
He said the governor briefed them on steps the state was considering to cut
corrections costs.

State law requires Class D offenders to serve their sentences of one to
five years in county jails and allows the state to place some nonviolent
Class C offenders in county jails. Class C offenders serve sentences of
five to 10 years.

Currently, about 4,200 state inmates are in county jails -- about 500 more
than anticipated in the current budget. The state pays jails more than $40
million a year to house inmates.

Simpson said jailers are concerned both because of the potential loss of
revenue and because counties use state inmates for public works projects
such as picking up trash and cleaning public buildings.

"It's a double hit," he said. "It's a loss of revenue and a loss of labor."

LaRue County Judge-Executive Tommy Turner said county officials are
concerned because some counties in recent years were encouraged by the
state to expand their jails to house state inmates.

"It's going to create some severe financial difficulties for some
communities," said Turner, vice president of the Kentucky County
Judge-Executive Association.

But state Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville and a member of the state Criminal
Justice Council, said it's past time the state looked for better ways to
manage the prison population. Neal said he has long argued that many
nonviolent inmates could be safely supervised outside jails or prison at
lesser cost with more potential for rehabilitation.

"We've got to have a more rational and a more practical approach to this,"
he said.

Neal said some lawmakers may object to the idea of releasing inmates but
they don't have a lot of choice.

"In this budget arena, it's not going to make much difference how we feel
about it," he said. "We're going to have to cut wherever we can or raise
more revenue."

Patton said yesterday that there's no guarantee that some inmates wouldn't
commit new crimes if released.

"There's no 100 percent guarantee," he said. "We release people from prison
every day that eventually violate the law again."

But with corrections costs rising and the budget shortfall growing, "I
don't see any alternative," he said.

Patton announced last week that the state is looking at a projected budget
shortfall of $500 million by mid-2004 -- and that it will be seeking all
possible ways to cut costs.

Simpson said the jailers plan to meet next week to discuss the matter.

"Our association may not like it and we may take positions against some
aspects of this," he said. "But what we get, we're going to have to deal with."

Staff writer Tom Loftus contributed to this story.