PRISON PAROLES PRESENT PROBLEMS

The state's prison system has been struggling with overcrowding for the
past few years, but the release of thousands of inmates as suggested by
Gov. Bob Riley may not be the solution some state officials were looking for.

Riley recommended the move in foresight of a possible defeat against his
$1.2 billion tax and accountability plan. Now, with the legislature in a
special session to determine budget cuts, many officials are afraid of the
direction the cuts are heading.

Attorney General Bill Pryor said the move to give early parole to prisoners
would lead to a lower quality of life for Alabama residents.

"I remain extremely concerned about what faces the citizens of Alabama,"
Pryor said in a written statement. "My warnings about the dangers of
increased crime stem from something that, as I understand, has not changed.
Alabama citizens will be more unsafe as a result of this budget."

The measures discussed by legislators include a release of almost 5,000
non-violent prisoners and the reduction of state police forces, Pryor said.

Pryor said that even non-violent criminals, such as those convicted of
theft, burglary and drug possessions, still have the capability to commit
violent crimes when freed.

Pryor suggested that families buy home security alarms and take other
lawful actions to protect their families.

With a reduction in police force, how does the state plan to release so
many offenders?

William Segrest, executive director of the State Board of Pardons and
Paroles, said the board would continue to follow the same course in motion
since last spring. The board has been attempting to give early paroles to
non-violent criminals since April, he said.

"In the last five months, we have identified persons in the system who are
serving time for non-violent offenses and who we think would have an
opportunity to make it in the community under strict parole supervision,"
Segrest said. "Since then we have actually released over 1,300 in addition
to the amount we normally let go."

Segrest said a similar plan for the next fiscal year, along with the
creation of a new parole board, would help the state let go of enough
prisoners to save money and decrease the number of prisoners being housed
in an already congested system.

State legislators are currently considering the creation of a new parole
board. This change would call for the state to hire four new parole board
members and as many as 100 parole officers to keep up with the 5,000
paroles, Segrest said.

These new employees would cost the state almost $35 million to hire, said
Cynthia Dillard, assistant director of the State Pardons and Paroles Board.

"This amount would be covered by the money we will save when we are not
spending $9,000 per year per inmate," Dillard said.

Dillard said the $9,000, the approximate amount of money spent on each
inmate annually, along with the parole fees paid by released prisoners will
help the board save revenue.

"The idea proposed will save us as much as $7 million," Dillard said.

Brian Corbett, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Corrections, said
the changes would help to alleviate overcrowding a little and will possibly
save money. He said, however, that the plan would not decrease the number
of prisoners enough to completely alleviate the system's crowding problems,
nor will it raise money towards building new prisons, something Corbett
said is becoming more and more necessary.

"Certainly it will help," Corbett said. "But you have to look at this in
historical perspective. Since 1980 our prison population has increased by
23,000 inmates. We're at more than double capacity."

Corbett said new crimes happen every day, continuously bringing in
prisoners. If beds were opened, the 1,700 inmates being housed out-of-state
would fill them up. The percentage of inmates breaking parole is high
enough in the state to counter-balance the number of prisoners being
released, Corbett said.

"We do have a 33 percent recidivism [relapse] rate in the state of Alabama,
so even 30 percent of those 5,000 that are released are going to come
back," Corbett said.