STATE BOLSTERS COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS

The Programs Give Offenders More Freedom And Save Iowa Money.

The Fort Des Moines correctional facility operates without guard towers,
barbed-wire fences or security dogs.

About 220 men convicted of crimes live there, in a former U.S. Army barracks
and a remodeled cavalry barn on Des Moines' south side. Most hold jobs in
the community and return to the center to sleep and attend classes.

Community programs such as the one at Fort Des Moines are seen as part of
the solution to Iowa's prison population crisis as officials try to redesign
the corrections system. The goals are to bolster public safety, keep more
people out of prison, curb government spending and emphasize community
involvement.

Despite such efforts, Iowa remains firmly on a path to building more state
prisons. The inmate population is projected to double by 2008, forcing the
state to spend $175 million on at least six new prisons.

Prisons are far more expensive than community corrections. While it costs
taxpayers about $18,500 annually for each Iowa inmate kept behind bars, the
bill is about $383 per year to supervise an offender on probation or parole.

Community corrections facilities such as the one at Fort Des Moines are
slightly more expensive to operate than prisons, but offenders usually leave
within two to five months. In contrast, inmates paroled from Iowa's prisons
last year had stayed behind bars an average of two years and three months.

Plenty of Rules

One resident of the Fort Des Moines correctional facility, Ray LeMarr, 44,
is just four blocks from the house he used to rent with his wife on Army
Post Road. After his second arrest for domestic assault, his spouse of nine
years moved out with everything they owned.

Although there's more freedom at Fort Des Moines than in the Polk County
Jail, there is not much to do during leisure hours other than watch TV, said
LeMarr, who was recently attending alcohol abuse treatment and looking for a
job. There are lots of rules, he added, such as having beds made by 7 a.m.
and keeping rooms clean.

Anybody caught fighting at the Fort Des Moines facility is taken to jail.
Residents are not even allowed to sip a beer while on a furlough home.

Robert Humburd, 20, of Des Moines, does not like being on work-release at
Fort Des Moines. He's spent the past two years in prison for possession of
crack cocaine with intent to deliver. Now he's frustrated at being confined
to Fort Des Moines.

"I feel like I am still closed away and still locked up," Humburd said. "It
is hard because I have got a taste of freedom, but they are teasing us with it."

Dale Dewey, an administrator who oversees the Fort Des Moines facility, said
it is true that offenders there must follow lots of rules.

"But this isn't Sunday school. The bottom line is that there is a structure,
and they are expected to do things," he said.

Residents who behave are rewarded with furloughs to spend time with their
families and perhaps to watch a child's ballgame.

"People who complete this program have a good chance of making it," Dewey said.

Budget, Participation Grow

The Iowa Legislature has increased the state's community corrections budget
to $53.4 million, up 9 percent, for the fiscal year that began this past
week. The extra money will expand programs and add 72 workers to the current
968 community corrections employees statewide.

"These services make a very, very big difference in terms of keeping people
in the community who really don't need to be in a prison setting," said Iowa
Corrections Director W.L. "Kip" Kautzky. By assigning the least dangerous
criminals to community corrections, state leaders can save money in the long
run for other priorities, such as improving Iowa public schools, he said.

Statewide, about 24,000 men and women offenders now participate in community
corrections programs, compared with about 7,300 inmates in Iowa's prisons.
Over a year, 46,000 people are supervised in community corrections. Most
community corrections participants live at home, are employed and have
regular contact with parole or probation officers. The number of people
assigned to such programs has increased by 47 percent since 1987.

People in community corrections may have committed almost any type of crime
except first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence in
prison. The most common crime committed by residents at Fort Des Moines is
drunken driving; other most common offenses include domestic assault, drug
dealing and theft.

Public Support

The vast majority of offenders in community corrections successfully
complete supervision, said Deputy Iowa Corrections Director Jeannette
Bucklew. About 12 percent of those on probation last year had probation
revoked. Ten percent of those on parole returned to prison. About 21 percent
of offenders assigned to community corrections residential facilities were
put behind bars.

About 1,200 of Iowa's community corrections offenders are assigned to places
such as Fort Des Moines. Some have served time in prison and are making a
transition. For others, Fort Des Moines is a last chance to avoid prison.

Gerald Hinzman, director of community corrections in Cedar Rapids, headed a
task force two years ago that held public meetings across Iowa. The group
found that the public wants criminals punished, but punishment can include
community service and other methods of accountability, Hinzman said. Many
people also want more help for crime victims and solidly support having
churches more involved in justice issues, he said. Hinzman is trying to
expand on those ideas by developing task forces in Cedar Rapids and Iowa
City. He's inviting participation by churches, neighborhood groups, human
services agencies, city officials and law enforcement.

"The question that we need to ask is, "How can we have fewer victims in the
future?" " Hinzman said. "We have to think about more than just warehousing
people. We have to think about enlightened approaches, treatment programs,
what leads them to criminality, and focus on those issues."