CHIEF JUSTICE TO BUDGET WRITERS: DRUG COURTS HELP CUT COSTS

JACKSON (AP) -- Mississippi could save money on prisons by increasing the
number of drug courts that rely on treatment and rehabilitation, Supreme
Court Chief Justice Edwin Pittman said Monday.

"Every person they save in the drug court is a person you don't have to
house and feed in the penitentiary," Pittman told members of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee.

He was one of several agency directors who appeared before the committee
Monday to make requests for the budget year that starts next July 1.

Four circuit court districts now have drug courts. The first covered
Lincoln, Pike and Walthall counties. Others came later in districts
consisting of Hinds; Sunflower, Leflore and Washington; and George, Greene
and Jackson counties.

Pittman did not request a specific amount to expand drug courts to other
counties, but said several parts of the state would be helped by them. He
said he wants the Administrative Office of the Courts to hire a drug court
coordinator to ease circuit judges' work loads.

House Speaker Tim Ford, D-Baldwyn, praised Pittman for efficiently running
the Supreme Court, even as the court struggles with staff shortages.

Pittman thanked him but said, "We need a little more money this year to do
the job you asked us to do."

The Budget Committee is holding a condensed series of hearings this week to
make up for time lost during a special session that started Sept. 5. Budget
hearings normally are conducted throughout September, but Monday was only
the third day of hearings this month.

The 14-member committee hopes to wrap up presentations by the end of this
week. The full, 174-member Legislature votes on the committee's spending
recommendations during the three-month regular session that starts in January.

Also Monday, state Department of Education officials told lawmakers that,
barring any changes, public schools will end the current budget year June
30 with a $136 million shortfall.

About $59 million of the shortfall came because legislators gave too little
money to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, the basic formula for
kindergarten through 12th grade offerings. Lawmakers also used $57 million
in money that is available for one year only, and diverted $20 million from
a school building fund into the Adequate Education Program.

Judy Rhodes, director of accountability for the Department of Education,
said the department is requesting an extra $255.5 million for the budget
year that starts July 1.

The Department of Corrections is also anticipating a shortfall for the
current budget year. Acting Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said the
prison system will be $28.7 million short of what it needs.