DOYLE HAS PLAN FOR NON-VIOLENT OFFENDERS

About 400 non-violent offenders would be diverted from prison each year
under a program proposed in Gov. Jim Doyle's 2003-05 state budget.

Instead of being sent back to prison, offenders who violate terms of their
probation or parole could be sentenced to 90 days of "intensive programming"
at a prison under construction in Sturtevant, in Racine County.

The program would help "reform and rehabilitate non-violent offenders and
avoid the most expensive and less-productive option of sending them to
prison," Doyle's budget proposal reads.

Final details have not been worked out, but programming would include work
release, community service and treatment for alcohol or drug problems, said
Bill Clausius, Department of Corrections spokesman.

Of 8,012 admissions to Wisconsin prisons in 2002, 3,087 were for revocation
of probation or parole, Clausius said. The governor's estimate of diverting
400 offenders is based on the program's capacity of 600 participants per
year and the likely odds they would violate terms again, Clausius said.

The program is just one of the sweeping changes envisioned in Doyle's
two-year $49.4-billion budget plan, which still must be approved by the
Legislature. Without corrective action, Wisconsin's total budget deficit is
expected to reach $3.2 billion by June 30, 2005.

Transforming the system Doyle uses words like "redesign" and
"transformation" to describe his ideas to reduce the state's reliance on
prisons by offering sentencing flexibility, rehabilitation options and crime
prevention programs. The justice system would be more effective and
affordable and state residents would be safer, Doyle said.

Another proposal would cut 200 middle-management jobs and shuffle the
opening dates of some state prisons. Doyle wants to add bed space to some
other prisons and convert still others to better suit his goals.

About 3,000 prisoners would remain in other states as a cost-saving measure.
Republicans aren't yet condemning Doyle's overall proposal for the justice
system, but some say his economics are flawed and sentencing alternatives
could be a mistake.

"I have a philosophical disagreement with any type of early release program,
and I would hope the governor is not going back to the days of probation and
parole," said Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, who heads the Assembly
Committee on Criminal Justice. Suder said the state's prison building boom,
ushered by former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, was a logical reaction to
a system that 15 years ago relied too heavily on probation and parole
without providing ample resources.

Wisconsin, which spends about $1 billion a year on Corrections, is not alone
in having to reduce prison costs. In December, Kentucky began releasing
prisoners to help close its funding gap and other states, including
Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa and California are considering options to squeeze
savings from their corrections systems. Pennsylvania and Illinois have
delayed prison openings, while Nevada has closed portions of its prisons to
save money. Doyle's proposal is not an early release program, however,
because offenders on probation and parole already are out of prison.

"If there were an alternative to revocations, we could reduce the burden on
the prison system. This is not being weak on crime, this is about getting
people to change their behavior," Clausius said.

Delay or open Further delay in opening a 750-bed, medium-security prison in
New Lisbon and the 300-bed Highview geriatric prison in Chippewa Falls will
cost more than save, Suder said.

The state will have to spend millions of dollars just to mothball the
facilities and won't realize economic benefits from payroll and related
spending in the communities. It makes little sense for new prisons to sit
idle as prisoners are shipped out of state, Suder said. On the other hand,
some Democrats say the state's prison-building boom has been spurred more by
rural economic development needs than sound criminal justice policy. As of
Feb. 14, the state had 3,237 inmates housed in Minnesota, Oklahoma and
Tennessee under a contract with the Corrections Corporation of America,
state records show. The contracts will cost the state about $51 million a
year during the next two-year budget cycle, said Jim Johnson, a budget
analyst with the state Department of Administration.

From a budgeting perspective keeping those prisoners out of state is cheaper
than bringing them back to Wisconsin, Corrections Secretary Matthew Frank
said. The state will save about $29 million during the two-year budget cycle
by not opening the two prisons, prison administrators said.

"The bottom line is we've got to look at revenue coming in and expenses
going out, and it's expensive to open a new prison," Frank said.

The state wants to bring prisoners back, but at least 3,000 are expected to
remain out of state until the state's budget situation improves, Frank said.

In the meantime, communities waiting for prisons to open continue to suffer,
said Rep. Sheryl Albers, R-Reedsburg, co-chair of the Joint Committee for
Review of Criminal Penalties. Albers' district includes the New Lisbon
Correctional Institution, for which construction is complete but Doyle
doesn't want to open until after mid-2005.

"That narrow-minded scope doesn't help the overall economy, and if the
governor's going to have an overall plan of improving the economy, he's got
to look beyond that narrow scope," Albers said.

The opening dates of at least five prisons have been pushed and pulled in a
political tug of war between Republicans and Democrats since the 1,500-bed
Stanley prison was built without state permission by a private company in
1998. In 2001, the state paid about $80 million for the prison, which began
accepting inmates in January. Stanley now houses about 800 prisoners and
Doyle has included funding for its operation in his budget proposal.

Other facilities that would be affected by Doyle's proposal:

The Black River Correctional Center would be converted to a 100-bed boot
camp that would allow select non-violent adult offenders to earn early
release under the state's Challenge Incarceration Program.

Prison workhouses in Sturtevant and Winnebago would open in December instead
of May 2004. Those facilities allow minimum-security prisoners, who are
transitioning out of the system, to gain work experience before being
released.

An undetermined number of beds would be added at the 400-bed Racine Youthful
Offender Correctional Institution and at the 750-bed medium-security
Redgranite Correctional Institution.

The Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution, which now houses 326
juveniles, would be converted to an adult prison.

Other aspects of Doyle's plan for the state's criminal justice system would:

Direct the Sentencing Commission to review the effectiveness of the
"truth-in-sentencing" program and file a report with the governor by January
2004. Doyle wants to ensure the program is cost-effective, protects public
safety and promotes consistency in sentencing. indent

Eliminate the Division of Correctional Programs and consolidate some of its
functions within the Division of Adult Institutions and the Division of
Community Corrections. indent

Grant judges authority to consider a release option similar to the boot camp
program for offenders with serious drug or alcohol problems. indent

Create a State Prosecutors Board to oversee the allocation of prosecutors
statewide and to review caseload status and charging practices.