1,000 MORE FACE OUT-OF-STATE PRISON

Legislators raise total to 3,200 as Wisconsin prisons are brimming

Madison -- With no room to spare in Wisconsin's crowded prison system,
lawmakers Tuesday gave Corrections Secretary Michael Sullivan authority to
send 1,000 more convicts to prisons in other states.

The Joint Finance Committee approved the transfer of 600 inmates to private
prisons run by the Corrections Corporation of America in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Four hundred other prisoners will be sent out of state as soon as the
Department of Corrections finds cells to rent, negotiates a contract and
submits it to the committee co-chairmen for approval.

Those 400 inmates could include women, a first for Wisconsin. The agency
wanted to send 200 women to a state prison in Virginia, but Sullivan said
that facility fell short of Wisconsin standards for cleanliness and security.

On an 11-3 vote, the committee approved spending $30 million in the next
year on all contract beds, including 2,785 already approved by the
Legislature and the 1,000 additional transfers. Of that total, 585 prisoners
will be housed in county jails in Wisconsin and 3,200 will be sent out of state.

Sullivan sought authority to ship 2,320 more prisoners out of state, but he
said the committee's approval of 1,000 transfers would give him some
breathing room at least until January.

Before the vote, Sullivan painted a grim picture for committee members.
Wisconsin's inmate population now totals 16,282, more than 30% over the
prison system's operating capacity. The system has no room to spare, he said.

Currently, 1,395 state prisoners are housed out of state, or 8.6% of the total.

"The Department of Corrections in Wisconsin is out of beds," Sullivan said.
He said officials found space for 250 bunks, but the system can hold no more.

"We're triple-celling in some places, including female facilities," he said.
"Even if we put in more beds, we don't have the resources to safely
supervise people in the system."

Sullivan said 500 guard positions are vacant because the department has had
trouble recruiting and hiring correctional officers.

"The Wisconsin prison system is maxed out," he told the committee.

The system has an operating capacity of 12,266, which includes beds under
contract with Wisconsin counties, Texas county jails, federal prisons and a
Corrections Corporation of America prison in Tennessee.

Two years ago, the state began sending prisoners to county jails in Texas
and now has 700 Wisconsin convicts in that state.

The action taken Tuesday also will allow the department for the first time
to send prisoners to Oklahoma. As many as 300 can be shipped to a CCA prison
in Sayre, Okla., which is about 120 miles west of Oklahoma City.

"The buses will be ready to roll next Monday," Sullivan said after the
committee vote.

Although he had asked the committee to let him send 2,320 more prisoners out
of state, Sullivan said he was "extremely pleased" with Tuesday's vote.

After the vote, Sullivan said the out-of-state contracts are a good
investment for the state.

"No one can say with absolute certainty what the future holds," he said.

If the inmate population ultimately levels off or even declines, he said,
the state will have saved money by renting cells out of state instead of
building new prisons in Wisconsin.

A substantial decrease in paroles has exacerbated prison crowding. According
to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau analysis, the number of early releases from
prison has decreased from an average of 275 per month in January 1996 to 83
in April.

With the decline in paroles, the inmate population has shown a net increase
of 2% a month, and at that rate, according to the fiscal bureau, the
population will approach 18,400 by January and 20,800 this time next year.

The female inmate population has been increasing faster than the number of
male prisoners. Since 1996, the female inmate population has increased from
508 to 896, up 76%, according to the fiscal bureau.

In an attempt to find out-of-state cells for women inmates, Sullivan said,
his agency will see whether Virginia officials could improve conditions of
their prison. He also said county jails in New Mexico and Mississippi were
under consideration.

In a related matter Tuesday, the committee voted, 8-6, to approve a plan by
Rep. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee) to let the Corrections Department hire four
people to monitor conditions in jails and prisons rented in other states.

Sen. Timothy Weeden (R-Beloit), committee co-chairman, had opposed the plan,
saying the $325,700 item would mean less money for inmate transfers.
Besides, he said, the department already has four positions, which are
vacant, to deal with out-of-state contracts.

However, Sullivan said the vacant positions, just authorized in the budget
adjustment bill, are needed to coordinate transfers at Waupun. He said the
department needed four more people to visit out-of-state prisons where
Wisconsin inmates are held.

Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah) joined Coggs in urging funding for monitors.

"We made the decision to send these inmates to other facilities out of
state," Kaufert said. "We have a responsibility to maintain some sort of
oversight."

Sullivan, who announced he will retire at the end of this year, drew praise
from two members for the difficult job of running the Corrections Department.

However, Rep. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) said she was disturbed by
agency's frequent requests for emergency funding.

"While we need to make some tough decisions today, we also have to look long
term at solutions so that we don't continually dig ourselves deeper and
deeper into this hole," she said.

Sen. Margaret Farrow (R-Elm Grove) said some strategic planning was in order
but that lawmakers, not Sullivan, were more to blame in part for some of the
problems the department faces because of anti-crime measures enacted in
recent sessions.

Still, at Harsdorf's urging, the committee directed Sullivan to try to
develop a strategic plan aimed at making the best use of prison beds.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett