AS DRUG BUSTS FILL JAILS, JUDGES FACE TOUGH DECISIONS

HARLAN - Some judges in Eastern Kentucky are feeling pressure to release
non-violent offenders because jails in the region aren't large enough to
hold them all.

"The system is packed," Harlan County Circuit Judge Ron Johnson said. "It
puts a great deal of strain on a jail."

Authorities have been making mass arrests of street-level drug dealers in
some mountain counties. The anti-drug task force UNITE alone arrested 550
people in 29 counties last year.

A drug bust last month helped to push the number of prisoners in the Harlan
County Detention Center to 124, twice the number it was built to accommodate.

Karen Engle, executive director for UNITE, said the drug roundups are
necessary, if not ideal. She said arresting dealers one-by-one can hurt an
investigation by tipping off other dealers that they may be next.

"We cannot stop arresting people and simply let them by just because jails
are full," Engle said. "We realize that's a problem, but we can't stop
arresting them simply because they have to sleep on a mat."

Johnson said overcrowding at the jail influences his decisions on whether
to release prisoners without bail or on a reduced bail.

But Johnson said the criminal records of prisoners are his first consideration.

Letcher County District Judge James Wood said he also has to consider
letting non-violent offenders out to make room for people charged with more
serious crimes.

Wood said he often uses home incarceration as an alternative.

Pike County District Judge Kelsey Friend Jr. said he doesn't consider how
full the jail is when he decides who to release.

"I've had as many as 273 in a jail that holds 143," Friend said.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections said jails in the state held an
average of 5,617 prisoners a day during fiscal year 2003, up from 4,840 a
day in 2002.