PRISON POPULATIONS EXPECTED TO GROW 30 PERCENT THIS DECADE

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Fueled by the state's growing population and
sentencing laws designed to keep violent criminals behind bars, North
Carolina's prisons are exploding with inmates.

The state's 78 prisons hold about 31,500 inmates. The prison population is
expected to top 40,000 by 2010 -- an increase of almost 30 percent.

Construction is expected to begin later this year on two maximum-security
prisons that will each hold 1,000 criminals. And cells are being added to
Central Prison in Raleigh, the state's largest and most secure facility, to
hold more violent criminals.

"We have more serious offenders," said Pam Walker, spokeswoman for the N.C.
Department of Correction. "And they're going to be staying in prison for
longer periods of time."

North Carolina's prisons are operating near or at capacity. Gregg Stahl,
one of the Correction Department's legislative liaisons, said the inmate
population will exceed capacity within 12 months.

"We're getting dangerously close to not having enough beds," Stahl said.
North Carolina's prison population has soared 66 percent during the past
decade. In 1991, the average inmate population was 19,048. Last year, the
inmate population averaged 31,535.

The N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission projects that North
Carolina's prisons will hold 35,682 inmates by 2005 and 40,309 by 2010.

Legislators, concerned about the projected prison growth, have asked the
sentencing commission to review the state's sentencing laws to see whether
there's any way to slow the growth.

One possible option is to reduce sentences for some crimes so inmates spend
less time in prison. Another option is to punish some types of offenders by
sending them to rehabilitation programs in the community rather than to prison.

Lao Rubert, director of the Carolina Justice Policy Center in Durham, said
North Carolina should look for more ways to rehabilitate offenders so it
doesn't have to build so many prisons.

"I think we need to spend more money on good treatment programs and link
those programs to our criminal justice system," said Rubert, whose agency
pushes for alternatives to prison programs. "My organization advocates
finding community programs that can work safely and effectively with
offenders."

Nationwide, prison populations are beginning to level off after exploding
for three decades. And the overcrowding that has plagued state prisons is
easing as a result of falling crime rates and a decade of new prison
construction.

The number of state prisoners nationwide grew by only 1.5 percent last year
- -- the lowest annual increase in 29 years, according to the U.S. Justice
Department. Between 1990 and 2000, the number of state prisoners nationwide
grew by 75 percent -- from 708,393 to 1,242,962.

North Carolina now has 13 maximum-security prisons.

State prison officials plan to open an additional 400 beds this year.
Almost 200 of them will be for maximum-security prisoners at Central Prison
in Raleigh.

The Department of Correction also wants to build three maximum-security
prisons at a cost of $224 million that will hold up to 3,000 criminals. So
far, the department has gotten authorization to build two of them.

Department of Correction, which has a current year budget of $927.9
million, is recommending the prisons be built in Anson, Alexander and
Scotland counties. It will take about two years to build the prisons.