HOUSE REP: PRISONS TO GET RELIEF

Malone Says Laws Will Help Reduce Crowding

JACKSON - House Corrections Chairman Bennett Malone says Mississippi's
prison system came out ahead this legislative session.

Bills designed to relieve prison crowding and save the state money
will become law July 1 after failing to win approval in the past.

One bill already signed by Gov. Haley Barbour would give certain
nonviolent inmates one day off for every they work in prison programs,
instead of the one day off for every three days of work that they have
been getting.

Another would make some terminally ill inmates eligible for early
release if they pose no threat to the community.

Malone, D-Carthage, said the bills help alleviate the crowding that
developed in Mississippi prisons after the 1995 truth-in-sentencing
law that required inmates convicted of various felonies to serve 85
percent of their sentences.

A similar trusty time-off bill was rejected by the 2003 Legislature,
but this year lawmakers were ready to act, Malone said.

"The Legislature is very cautious. It takes a while sometime to really
educate," Malone said recently. "Maybe we overreacted on the 85
percent law and we do have a crisis staring us in the face - both
budgetary and a shortage of beds."

Lawmakers approved a $266.1 million Department of Corrections budget
for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That compares with the $285
million that Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said his agency will
spend in the current fiscal year.

"As you can tell, we're doing some fiscally responsible things.
Nothing will negatively affect public safety at all," Epps said.

Malone said House Speaker Billy McCoy, D-Rienzi, directed him to cut
$40 million from the corrections budget.

"Commissioner Epps and myself sat down and put our heads together and
put a package together to do that," Malone said.

A component of the package was a bill that would shorten the time a
nonviolent inmate has to wait between Parole Board reviews.

Malone said some inmates had been set off for years. Set off is the
term for the period of time between parole board reviews. The new
legislation limits that time to one year for nonviolent inmates.

"You have an inmate who has served a certain amount of time, that's
been a good inmate and he's not in there for a serious crime," Malone
said. "He goes into the Parole Board and they set him off for five
years. Well, that takes all the incentive away from that inmate to be
a good inmate."

Former state Sen. Glenn Hamilton of Maben, who has been chairman of
the five-member Parole Board since February, said the current board
has only set off violent offenders for more than a year. He said
previous boards may have set off nonviolent inmates for longer periods.

Hamilton said if a drug offender enrolled in a drug treatment program
is set off more than a year, it's to give the inmate time to complete
the therapy.

As of Monday, there were 21,136 inmates in state prison facilities.
Hamilton said the Parole Board reviews about 400 cases a month.

"We're taking into consideration the crowding conditions in facilities
and the fact that it costs the state a lot of money to house inmates,"
Hamilton said. "We're looking for some good people to parole. There's
no way to predict an inmate's behavior."