STATE PRISON POPULATION TO CONTINUE GROWTH, BUT AT SLOWER RATE

Oklahoma's prison population is projected to continue growing over the
next 10 years, but the rate will be less than one-third the growth
experienced by state prisons during the previous decade, according to
figures presented to a state agency Thursday.

The figures show that the number of inmates sentenced to prison for
methamphetamine-related offenses has been cut in half since a state
law went into effect last year that restricts access to the illegal
drug's main ingredient.

But more inmates are sent to state prisons for substance abuse
offenses, including alcohol and drug possession and distribution, than
any other crime category, according to figures presented to the
Oklahoma Sentencing Commission.

The statistics were prepared by the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Resource
Center and predict Oklahoma's future incarceration rate based on past
trends. The figures also track the affect that new laws, including
those involving sentencing and alternatives to prison, have on the
prison population.

Oklahoma's prison population will grow at an annual rate of 0.9
percent through 2014, rising from a current level of 23,950 inmates to
25,382 in 10 years, according to the figures.

"The prison crowding crisis does not seem to be going away anytime
soon," K.C. Moon, director of the resource center, told commission
members.

But inmate receptions at state prisons will be slower than the 3.4
percent annual growth rate experienced between 1994 and 2004, the
statistics show. Between 2000 and 2004, annual growth in the prison
population slowed to 0.6 percent.

According to the projections, Oklahoma will have about 700 more
inmates in state prisons next year. The Department of Corrections is
seeking $31 million to house the growing inmate population through
2006. The agency's budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday is
$409 million.

Although Gov. Brad Henry has expanded a special session of the
Legislature to address corrections funding, House Speaker Todd Hiett,
R-Kellyville, has said those needs can be addressed next year.

"We have opposition to fully funding corrections," said the
commission's chairman, Sen. Richard Lerblance, D-Hartshorne. He said
the rising inmate population and a 23 percent vacancy rate among
correctional officers had created the potential for inmate unrest and
federal court intervention.

"I think we're at a critical stage right now," Lerblance
said.

Over the past 16 years, average population growth has ranged from a
high of 150 per month in 1996 to 29 per month in 2001. The average for
the past 12 months was 44 per month. Last year, Oklahoma prisons
received 8,957 new inmates, the highest in the Corrections
Department's history.

Prison receptions for meth-related crimes dropped from 54 in April
2004 to 26 in March following passage last year of a state law that
restricted access to the addictive stimulant's main ingredient.

Meth lab seizures have dropped more than 70 percent since Oklahoma put
pseudoephedrine tablets, a common nasal decongestant and critical
ingredient in meth, behind pharmacy counters.

But statistics show the growth in Oklahoma's prison population
continues to be driven by alcohol and drug related crimes.

Of the record number of new inmates last year, almost half - 4,294 -
were sent to prison for alcohol offenses and drug possession or
distribution.