WOMEN PUT SQUEEZE ON STATE'S JAILS

CHATTANOOGA (AP) -- With the number of women in Tennessee prisons and jails
having tripled in 12 years, the state is looking at East Tennessee as the
site for a third women's correctional facility.

Tennessee runs prisons for women in Nashville and Memphis. Both were
operating below their designated capacity in December, according to
Correction Department records, but officials are aware of more women being
incarcerated.

In July 1990, 609 women were housed in Tennessee prisons and jails on
felony charges. That number jumped to 1,746 by October 2002, state records
show.

According to the state's "Future Felon Population" report earlier this
year, the number of female inmates is expected to grow by 47.1 percent over
the next 10 years. By comparison, the male prison population is projected
to increase by 28.5 percent.

"As the female (inmate) population continues to increase, the next emphasis
should be in East Tennessee," said Linda Dodson, deputy commissioner for
the Tennessee Department of Correction.

Rep. Chris Clem (R-Lookout Mountain) said the state can't fund a new prison
now, but "hopefully in two years there will be."

Joann Morton, president of the Association of Programs for Female Offenders
and an author on the subject, said the rising number of female prisoners
has been a national trend for the past 15 years.

"The change in the incarceration of females hasn't been related to changes
in women's behavior, but has been related to changes in crime control
policy, particularly the war on drugs," Morton said.