SOUTH CAROLINA MUST FACE THE FACT THAT IT COSTS MONEY TO LOCK PEOPLE UP

South Carolina is facing another tough budget year, one of a string of
increasingly difficult budget situations. State lawmakers will be hard put
to maintain current state services without raising taxes.

And now the state Department of Corrections may be asking for $50 million
next year to build new prisons. Some nerve, huh?

The department has no choice.

And state lawmakers and taxpayers are going to have to face the fact that
it costs money to lock people up. The more you lock up, the more it costs.
The longer you keep them locked them up, the more it costs.

South Carolina has been locking up more people for longer and acting like
it can do so for less money. It can't. This bill is past due.

The state's prison system has surpassed its capacity by almost 1,000
inmates. Tough new laws that increase sentences are keeping people behind
bars longer.

As the prison population has risen, state budget cuts have required the
department to cut the number of guards by 600. That means the state now has
11 inmates for every guard, more than double the national average.

These trends of more inmates and less money for prisons can't continue.
They will either result in prison violence and/or federal lawsuits that
lead to judges dictating how much the state must spend on prisons.

The General Assembly has to come up with some solutions. One would be more
money for prisons. The state can build new prisons to house the new
inmates. It can spend more money to hire guards. If we are determined to
keep locking people up, that is our only option.

The problem is that the state doesn't have the money to spend, not without
raising taxes and further dampening the economy.

But the state could minimize the amount of money needed by taking advantage
of alternative sentences.

Half of the state's inmates are nonviolent offenders. They can be sentenced
to house arrest and monitored. Their freedom is seriously curtailed, yet
they are kept with their families and are able to pay for their own upkeep.
Combined with treatment for drug offenders, house arrest could put a
significant dent in the prison population.

Less serious offenses could be served over time on weekends. Such sentences
could even include labor for the state.

The state should consider widespread use of alternative sentences to reduce
the cost of its burgeoning prison system.