A PROBLEM THAT IS GETTING WORSE

Jails are overflowing and we need more space In West Virginia, we have more
prisoners than we have prisons, a challenge that is likely to worsen in
coming years.

So let's get creative.

Today, nearly 900 convicted felons -- murderers, rapists and kidnappers --
stay in regional and county jails. Law enforcement officials say that
number could climb to 2,000 in eight years. They also say those offenders
do not belong in local jails, where s ervices are limited and cell space is
at a premium.

Those facilities, in typical West Virginia fashion are understaffed by
people who are underpaid, meaning they don 't have enough money or training
for sufficient drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mental health treatment and
sex offender counseling.

So the state's Supreme Court ordered up a study to seek a solution to the
state's prison overcrowding problems. One of the possibilities the report
recommends studying is that some prisoners who were denied parole when
originally sentenced be considered for release.

Understandably, family members of victims might not like those requests.
It's hard to forgive to that degree. Still, the convicted deserve some
dignity as well, and right now, our prison system is not providing that.
Steve Canterbury, director of West Virginia's regional jail authority, says
the state has plans to spend $33.6 million for more beds. Expanding prison
space beyond that, Canterbury says, would cost "hundreds of millions of
dollars."

But we've already been told that the state has a $200 million deficit
looming next year, and state budget and revenue experts predict that
financial challenge will be around for years. Canterbury says there are
options to spending that extra money. He says neighboring Virginia has a
surplus of prison space it is willing to sell. But we can't transfer
prisoners there without changing our state's constitution. A Civil War-era
edict, called the "Banishment Clause," forbids such deals.

Canterbury also suggests house arrest, community halfway houses and
supervised community service for parole violators instead of sending them
back to over-populated jails.

West Virginia's Legislature is starting to consider the kind of
alternatives Canterbury has proposed. They need to be brave, thoughtful and
decisive, and they need to do so soon.

"Being smart on crime is not the same thing as being soft on crime,"
Canterbury said. Our lawmakers need to remember that, and we need to be
supportive when they do.

For a long time, politicians in West Virginia and elsewhere have made
political hay by promising to be tough on crime and attacking their
opponents as soft on crime. Now, our state's prisons are overflowing with
the product of their work.

Transferring prisoners to other states isn't a solution. Can the
Legislature discuss creative sentencing guidelines and judicial flexibility
without going into attack mode? We hope so.