DRUG OFFENDERS LEAD THE PACK AS PRISONS SWELL

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's sudden upsurge in inmates imprisoned on drug-related
charges comes after two years of state budget cuts that have dramatically
reduced treatment dollars for drug offenders behind bars.

Experts say that may have contributed to the need for state lawmakers to dip
into reserve funds last week and approve $66 million in emergency funding to
build about 4,000 new prison beds.

With Florida's serious-crime rate at its lowest point in 30 years, this
summer's sharp increase in prison admissions caught state leaders by surprise.

"I think it's probably going to wind up being a combination of several things,"
said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has steered tougher sentencing laws through a willing
Republican Legislature since taking office in 1999.

"It's a significant investment," Bush said of the additional prison funding.
"But if we need to build prisons in order to make sure public safety is first
and foremost, we'll do that."

Although those convicted of drug-related crimes account for the single largest
group of offenders in Florida's more than 77,000-inmate prison system,
lawmakers began slashing state dollars for prisoner substance-abuse treatment
in late 2001.

After the economic slump stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
lawmakers helped balance the state budget by cutting in half the $15.5 million
then spent on prison treatment services.

Last year, that fell to $5.8 million, about a third of the earlier level. This
year, lawmakers have earmarked $7.7 million for inmate drug treatment in a
system where more than one in four offenders is incarcerated for drug crimes.

"What we're seeing nationwide, Florida included, are inmates being released who
have been in very rough prison conditions," said Tom Blomberg, acting dean of
the Florida State University School of Criminology. "Once they get out, they
are ill-prepared for today's society."

This past spring, state analysts started to notice a growing admissions rate
for Florida prisons. By June, the Department of Corrections took in 2,823
inmates, the highest monthly admission total in more than a decade.

The largest increase occurred among those convicted of drug offenses. And five
counties -- Volusia, Polk, Hillsborough, Escambia and Leon -- accounted for 52
percent of the unexpected increase. No statewide breakdown of prisoners'
offenses was available.

Most drug offenders in the prison system are repeat offenders, officials said.
And with state analysts finding a slight rise in the number of inmates
receiving short sentences of a year to 15 months, experts say drug offenders
may be returning more quickly to the system.

"The rise in prison admissions that's happening in Florida certainly seems to
be bucking national trends," said Ryan King, a research associate with The
Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit criminal-justice policy
group.

Last month, the state's Criminal Justice Estimating Conference revised its
annual forecast to increase the end-of-year prison population to more than
81,000.

But even once the group's revamped forecast was complete, July admissions rose
to 2,899 inmates -- topping even June's decade-high surge.

Analysts are expected to meet next month and could again revise the forecast,
officials said.

Corrections officials have said the 4,000 new beds, which effectively doubled
the number of new beds included in the state budget that took effect last
month, will be enough to meet the now-forecasted rise.

But dramatic increases could bring prison officials back to lawmakers for more
money, making corrections costs an added burden in an already lean budget year.

"Forty million dollars would've covered the cuts that we had to impose on our
university system this year," said state Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein,
D-Delray Beach. "What about money for public schools, the Department of
Children & Families? The reality is, we've got to take care of other priorities
in this state."

Other possible causes for the rise are stricter sentences handed down by a new
generation of conservative state court judges appointed by Bush.

Also, counties may be looking to shift costs by sentencing offenders to terms
that exceed one year, getting inmates out of county jails and into state
prisons. Florida drug czar Jim McDonough, a Bush appointee, also said some
inmates convicted of drug offenses plea-bargain down from more-serious crimes.

"It's not overly harsh drug laws that are filling up our prisons," McDonough
said. "It's people committing serious crimes."

Bush has asked Corrections Secretary James Crosby for a report in coming weeks
that may help shed light on the numbers. For now, even in counties where
admissions have climbed, officials are at a loss.

"Nothing has changed in the philosophy of prosecution," said Linda Pruitt, a
spokesman for State Attorney John Tanner of Volusia County. His county sent 23
percent more inmates to Florida prisons this year than a year earlier -- from
904 to 1,111.

Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, whose office has seen state
inmate admissions for cocaine possession more than double in the past year,
downplayed the effect of state budget cuts on drug treatment.

"The primary purpose of the prison system is not to treat but punish," Ober
said. "Counties have drug courts that help steer people into treatment. But if
they don't comply with the laws, sometimes they end up in prison."