STATE LOW ON PRISON SPACE

Hard Times May Be Behind Surge

An unexpected increase in felony convictions - perhaps fueled by a bad
economy - has put more inmates in the state's prisons, leading to an
expected overpopulation by the end of next year.

State criminal-justice officials count the addition of three 1,000-bed
prisons in the estimates that project that the state's 77 prisons will be
over capacity by nearly 1,300 inmates.

The system will have nearly 7,700 more inmates than it can handle by 2012
if no additional prisons are built before then.

"It's a scary prospect for the future," Susan Katzenelson, the executive
director of the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, told
members at a meeting Friday.

Katzenelson said she worried that the courts could require the state to
begin releasing inmates before the completion of their sentences if the
General Assembly doesn't act.

The increase has been driven in part by a 5 percent increase in felony
convictions last year. The convictions that carry heavy penalties and put
the most strain on the prison system - those for murder, robbery and drug
trafficking - rose by about 20 percent last year.

State sentencing officials said they suspect that the state's rising
population and poor economy play a role.

The commission also reported that tougher sentencing laws and a reluctance
by parole officials to release longtime inmates in the system contributed
to the increase.

Last year, the General Assembly increased penalties for financial-identity
fraud, incest and stalking.

Commissioners said that they worry that if the prison system receives no
relief, North Carolina could go the way of Kentucky, where the governor
freed 567 inmates last month to help close a $500 million budget deficit.

"There just isn't enough money in the state budget to get us out of this
crisis," said Billy Sanders, a legal specialist with North Carolina
Prisoner Legal Services.

North Carolina has dealt with crowded prisons before. The state released
inmates early to relieve crowding in the 1980s.

A building boom followed, but legislators also toughened sentences for
serious crimes in 1993 and helped trigger another rise in the prison
population.

The commission agreed to send the General Assembly a list of suggestions
developed last year that could close the gap by about 6,000 beds.

The commission suggests that legislators:

? Reclassify statutory rape or sexual offense of a person 13 to 15 years
old by a defendant who is four to six years older from a Class C felony to
a lesser Class F felony.

?Sentence habitual felons who commit a Class C felony or less to no more
than a Class C felony. The law now allows habitual offenders to be given
longer sentences than those allowed for the crime for which they are convicted.

? Transfer three months of some sentences from prison time to post-release
supervision.

The General Assembly did not act on any of these suggestions last year.