AN IDEA WITH MERIT

Candidate Suggests Turning Elliott Prison Into Drug Treatment
Facility

Kentucky Supreme Court candidate Will T. Scott has another idea for
the new Little Sandy Correctional Complex in Elliott County - one that
does not include either privatizing the prison or operating it as a
regular state prison.

Instead, Scott - who is challenging incumbent Janet Stumbo for a seat
on the state's highest court - proposes turning the 981-bed prison
into what he calls "the most advanced state-operated long-term drug
and alcohol treatment and education facility in the nation."

It is an idea that has merit. So much so, in fact, that both Gov.
Ernie Fletcher and House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins - two political
adversaries who have agreed on little when it comes to the prison -
have both said Scott's proposal is worth considering.

Fletcher maintains the state does not need the new $92-million prison.
Corrections Commissioner John Rees - a former executive for a private
company that operates prisons - has proposed leasing the new prison to
a private firm that would, in turn, lease the beds to hold inmates
from other states. Either that, or the state could contract with a
private company to run the prison and hold Kentucky inmates.

Adkins, who represents Elliott County and is the second-ranking
Democrat in the House of Representatives, has adamantly opposed any
privatization of the prison. He claims the lower wages offered by a
private company would be a betrayal of the promise the state made to
Elliott County residents when the prison was first proposed.

Scott points out that 23 percent of Kentucky's current prison
population are serving time for drug crimes. However, a 1996 survey by
the University of Kentucky found that nearly 60 percent of Kentucky's
inmates have abused drugs or alcohol. While the prison system offers
punishment for drug-related crimes, it offers limited help in treating
inmates with drug and alcohol problems. That's what Scott proposes to
do at the Elliott County prison.

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who doubles as Fletcher's justice secretary,
ultimately will decide what to do with the new prison, but Scott's
proposal would seem to go hand-in-hand with Pence's call for offering
more treatment for inmates with addiction problems.

Even if he is successful in unseating Stumbo in November, there is
little Scott can do as a Supreme Court justice to make his proposal a
reality. Thus, Scott - who nearly defeated former U.S. Rep. Chris
Perkins in a bid for Congress in 1990 - has little to gain politically
from his proposal. It is, he insists, just a way to offer a compromise
on the prison.

"Incarceration is designed to teach a lesson," Scott said, "but if the
lesson is they will be back again, and we can prevent that through
compulsory institutional treatment, then we would be remiss if we did
not try."

He has a point. If the state can help inmates lick the addictions that
caused them to commit their crimes, then the chances of them returning
to crime once released are significantly diminished.