COLUMBUS PRISON DEBATED

RALEIGH - Several state House members said Monday in a committee
meeting that North Carolina should not build a 1,000-bed prison in
Columbus County. But Rep. Dewey Hill, a Democrat who represents
Columbus County, said he expects the legislature to approve it.

The Columbus County prison is one of three being considered as
legislative leaders work out the state budget. North Carolina would
borrow money to pay for them. The Columbus County project has been
estimated to cost $100 million and would employ 403 people.

"I think all three prisons are going to survive," Hill said Monday
evening after the House Finance Committee debated the project for two
hours.

Rep. Jim Crawford of Granville County is co-chairman of the House and
Senate conference committee that is drafting a final version of the
state budget. He said he also thinks that the projects will pass.

Crowded Facilities

The state prisons have 33,591 inmates with another 799 in jails
waiting to be transferred to the prisons, Secretary of Correction
Theodis Beck said during the Finance Committee meeting. The prisons
have a normal operating capacity of 28,501. With some crowding they
can hold 31,969, he said.

There are 1,100 beds in prison dayrooms as a temporary housing
measure, Beck said.

Three prisons are being built and should come online in the next 12
months, including one in Scotland County. But Beck said that even with
the three new prisons, the system expects to be 3,000 beds short in
2006 and 6,300 beds short in 2010.

State Rep. Paul Luebke and several other legislators questioned
whether three more should be built. They wondered if it would be
better to build only two and not build one in Columbus County.
Instead, Luebke suggested, the state should review its sentencing
policies, which some say put people in prison for a long time for
minor offenses.

The money saved on the prison could be used to treat drug abuse and
give mental health services to criminals to help keep them from
committing crimes later, suggested Rep. Rick Glazier of Fayetteville.
Glazier is a criminal defense lawyer.

Tough Sentencing

Rep. Joe Kiser, a former sheriff from Lincoln County, argued that
crime rates have fallen because North Carolina toughened its
sentencing policies and that they shouldn't be adjusted.

The Finance Committee adjourned with no vote on the matter. The only
effect the committee could have on the project would be through
pressure placed on budget writers.