STATE'S PRISON CHIEF AIMS FOR NEW PATH IN CORRECTIONS

MILLEDGEVILLE - When James Donald left the room, all 400 pounds of Jack
Pendleton seemed to be smiling.

Pendleton has been behind bars for more than 10 years, and he had never met
a Department of Corrections commissioner before.

Donald, 55, has held that job since December. On a recent visit to Men's
State Prison, a medium-security facility near Milledgeville, Donald
commended Pendleton and the other inmates who were converting reading
material into braille. But Donald wasn't just there to slap inmates on the
back.

He also told the room of mostly middle-aged men that his mission as
Georgia's new prison chief is about "getting you home to your families."

It's not the kind of talk the prison population is accustomed to hearing
from a corrections commissioner - one of whom once said that some inmates
"ain't fit to kill."

Donald is an Army major general appointed by a Republican governor in a
state not known for a progressive attitude about inmate rehabilitation.
He's also a devout Christian who says he loves inmates and wants to help
them get out of an overcrowded system.

"I'm a missionary Baptist," Donald said. "I'm a glass half-full kind of
person."

Rehabilitating prisoners - and keeping them from coming back to prison -
are priorities for his administration.

"What we're looking for is an opportunity to get you home," he told about
100 inmates who gathered around him in a sunny prison yard. "It's about
redeeming you back to the family."

'There are consequences to everything we do'

Donald has reason for wanting to free up space. The DOC is currently paying
to house about 4,000 inmates in county jails, because the state system is
at 102 percent capacity. The roughly 52,000 inmates each cost about $18,000
per year, Donald said.

And each year, about 20,000 people enter the state system and only about
18,000 get out. If that continues, officials say, the state will have to
build 10 new prisons in five years, at a cost of more than $1 billion.

Donald is new to the corrections field. So far, he has toured 46 of
Georgia's prisons and detention centers, where he has said repeatedly that
some violent and predatory inmates should never be let go.

But he's also spoken up for the roughly 42 percent of inmates who are
nonviolent offenders - men and women who likely will get out one day. About
30 percent of those released wind up back in prison.

"And I've got a feeling that the food's not that good in here," Donald said.

At Men's State, where many of Georgia's elderly and disabled inmates are
housed, prisoners peered out the window at the two-star general. A chess
game in the yard was put on hold, as men with canes listened to Donald
outline his five-step plan to reduce recidivism.

It begins with teaching convicts to think differently. Donald told the
inmates that they have turned families upside down.

"You might as well face up," he said. "There are consequences to everything
we do."

Donald, who spent 33 years in the military including eight months in Iraq
and Saudi Arabia, told inmates he loved them and was praying for them.
Earlier, he stopped by a group of inmates who were hearing a sermon. At
least one man had a Bible in his hand.

"Except by the grace of God," he told them, "I'd be standing where you are."

Donald frequently calls upon his faith when delivering his message. He had
just returned from a trip to Florida, where a faith-based prison is being
tested. Depending on its success, Donald said, he would like to open faith-
and character-based dormitories in Georgia.

'Still our sons and daughters'

Donald's presentations to inmates, staff members and community leaders can
be quite lengthy, which might explain why he sometimes lags hours behind a
schedule that normally starts at 7:15 a.m. and ends at 7:15 p.m.

The day in Milledgeville went much longer than that. Donald spends at least
three days each week touring facilities. He works through lunch and many
weekends, said his executive assistant Brian Owens.

Owens has worked for three Department of Corrections commissioners. Donald,
he says, is unique in his passion and motivation.

As the first black to lead the Georgia DOC, Donald says he wants to be a
role model. He often invokes his personal story, about growing up in the
little house on the cotton field near Forest, Miss.

He recalls long days in that field, filling a wagon with his four brothers,
and thinking that if he wanted a job where he could wear a jacket, he'd
have to get an education.

Donald wears a large ring from the University of Mississippi, where he
received a degree in political science and history before getting a
master's in public administration from the University of Missouri.

He is an avid runner who enjoys romance movies such as "Casablanca." He
likes to play golf but will not disclose his handicap. At the Milledgeville
prison, he had a sizable blister on his right hand from digging a hole for
a tree in his wife's garden.

Last year, he met Gov. Sonny Perdue while planting memorial trees at Fort
Stewart for 34 soldiers killed in Iraq. A friendship developed. He said he
accepted the corrections appointment because he thought he could make a
difference.

"We don't have to throw away these (men and women)," Donald said. "They're
still our sons and daughters."

Education, drug treatment part of plan

The second step in Donald's plan to address recidivism is getting inmates
off drugs. The state system does not have a residential substance abuse
treatment center for women, and he plans to open one.

Donald is opening four day-reporting centers this summer, including one in
Macon. The program gives convicts with one foot in prison an opportunity to
stay out by learning life skills and how to stay off drugs. Graduates of a
day-reporting center in Atlanta are three times more likely to stay out of
the system, he said.Officials say they can operate 34 day-reporting centers
for the cost of one state prison.Federal grants will pay for the four new
centers and provide about $1 million for a prisoner re-entry initiative in
Macon.When inmates are released, Donald said, he wants them to have more
than $25 and a bus ticket. Education is step three. About 66 percent of
Georgia's inmates leave prison with a GED, the equivalent of a high school
diploma. Donald wants to raise that to at least 70 percent.

But before focusing on inmate education, Donald wants to provide
opportunities to his corrections officers - the 10,000 "unsung heroes" in
uniform.

Donald has compassion for inmates, but he is a military man who believes
inmates should always say "yes, sir" and "yes, ma'am" to staff and treat
them with respect, he said.

"This is not an option," he said. "You are the first step in the cognitive
rehabilitation process."

That respect goes both ways, he said, something he recently reiterated in a
letter to wardens and superintendents in the aftermath of the Iraqi prison
scandal.

He also told the employees at Men's State that they could get paid more if
they further their education. He pushed for the merger of the state's
probation and corrections divisions because he wants officers to be
multifunctional, so that in addition to keeping order they can complement
what counselors do.

Donald also wants all corrections officers to have an associate degree
within five years and a bachelor's degree within 10.

Corrections officer Cotina Taylor, who is planning to go to nursing school,
liked what she heard about education, weight rooms, housing assistance and
on-site day care - the kind of programs Donald developed as a deputy chief
of staff for personnel and installations for the Army.

Donald is the first commissioner Taylor has met in her five-plus years on
the job.

"I think he was real sincere," Taylor said afterward. "And he was real
professional."

Donald challenged his staff to a push-up contest, but had no takers.

'He's not scared of change'

Step four in Donald's plan is giving inmates the job training and skills
they need to succeed on the other side of the razor wire.

He has put companies that do business with the DOC on notice: If they want
to continue the relationship, they must demonstrate a willingness to hire
ex-cons, he said.

Donald wants to allow inmates to get paid for some of the work they do. He
said Georgia is one of only two states that does not have such a provision.
He's looking at a program in South Carolina where inmates get part of
earnings that also go to victims, child support payments and the state.

Donald said textile companies that are thinking about moving overseas
should consider using inmate labor. He has started a program in which
inmates do some automotive and other tasks for corrections officers.

The final step in Donald's plan is to help inmates, once released, to stay
out of the environment that got them into trouble. He's enlisted the help
of churches to support ex-cons as they try to lead a straight life.

The churches can help the 200 inmates at Men's State that are eligible for
release but have nowhere to go, he said.

Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee said sheriffs also face overcrowding and
will probably be receptive to Donald's efforts.

"I think he's not scared of change," said Massee, who serves on the state
Board of Corrections. "If he's successful, everybody wins."

Back in the braille room, 50-year-old Neil Davenport said he's eligible for
parole in April. He had a smile on his face after Donald left.

"Makes me think that maybe he's more than just talk," Davenport said. "We
want him to be successful, too."