BILL WOULD KEEP DRUG OFFENDERS OUT OF PRISON

Prison beds in Kansas are filling up, and keeping people convicted of drug
possession out of those beds would ease the state's financial and substance
abuse problems, say drafters of a new bill facing the Legislature.

Barbara Tombs, the outgoing executive director of the Kansas Sentencing
Commission, said placing drug possession offenders with no history of crimes
against other people in drug treatment programs was cheaper and served the
public better than incarceration.

"It moves violent offenders into beds being taken up by drug offenders," she
said. "What we're doing is trying to prevent them (drug offenders) from
going into prison, that's the bottom line."

Tombs said most people convicted of simple drug possession -- meaning they
weren't manufacturing or selling drugs -- were sentenced to probation for
the first offense and weren't incarcerated until they violated probation by
getting caught with drugs a second or third time. She said the commission's
proposal focused on rehabilitating addicts who get arrested repeatedly for
possession.

Representatives of the commission, a group of state officials who advise the
Legislature on criminal justice issues, will present a report and a bill to
the Legislature on Monday, Tombs said.

Shawnee County Sheriff Richard Barta said he thought a modified version of
the Sentencing Commission's proposal would benefit law enforcement and
Shawnee County in the long run.

"I would support that type of legislation, but just for the first-time
offender," he said.

People who didn't complete drug treatment or relapsed after completion
should be incarcerated for consequent violations, he said.

"I would hope that the people that are arrested as first-time offenders
would see they had an opportunity to get their lives straightened out and
get off drugs and become productive citizens," he said.

Kansas prisons are approaching their 9,000-bed capacity and will either need
to expand or house fewer inmates. The Sentencing Commission estimates that
383 to 571 beds would be freed up between fiscal years 2004 and 2013 as a
result of its proposal.

The Kansas Department of Corrections has cut almost all drug treatment
programs from the prison system because of the current budget crisis, and
Tombs said drug users were being released back into the community with the
same addictions that got them there.

"This will only work if the Legislature puts up the money that's necessary
for expansion of the treatment," she said. "Treatment will work if it's done
properly."

Even after expanding treatment centers, the financially strapped Kansas
government would save money with the proposal. Tombs said the state spends
$20,000 a year to incarcerate a person, but the Sentencing Commission
estimates drug treatment programs, both inpatient and outpatient, would cost
the state between $2,500 and $6,500.

"There's no get-out-of-jail-card-free here," she said. "The state's going to
make a choice where it wants to put its money."

PROPOSAL

About 9,000 prison beds are available in Kansas prisons, which are nearing
capacity. The sentencing commission estimates 383 to 571 beds would be freed
up between fiscal years 2004 and 2013 as a result of the program.

Total Sentences For Drug Crimes In 2002:

* 2,739 offenders sentenced for drug all crimes, of those:

* 2,008 sentenced to probation

* 731 sentenced to prison

Total Sentences For Simple Possession Of Drugs In 2002:

* 1,517 sentenced for possession, of those:

* 1,236 sentenced to probation

* 281 sentenced to prison

Total Eligible Under Commission's Proposal:

* 1,255 people sentenced for simple possession in 2002 are eligible, they
have no past person crimes. Of those; 980 people had first time convictions,
258 had second time convictions, and 17 had third time convictions

* 1,109 eligible people were sentenced to probation

* 146 eligible people were sentenced to prison