COUNTY JAILS HOUSING MORE STATE PRISONERS

Shortage Of Facilities Puts Strain On Local Systems Despite Fees Paid By State

More prisoners might have to stay in county jails because of overcrowding
at the state's prisons, according to one state official.

Some county officials said yesterday that the state's plan would stretch
their limited resources and probably lead to overcrowding in their jails.

Boyd Bennett, the director of the N.C. Division of Prisons, said in a
letter dated July 18 to county sheriffs that officials might have to keep
state prisoners in county jails until more prison beds are available.

"The Division of Prisons will exercise every effort to minimize the number
of inmates it must backlog to the county jails," Bennett said in the
letter. He couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.

Under state law, the state reimburses counties for the money they spend to
house state prisoners. The state pays the counties $40 a day for each state
inmate, but local officials say that fee doesn't fully cover the costs of
keeping the prisoners.

As of yesterday, the state's prison population was 33,573 inmates, the N.C.
Department of Correction said. That figure exceeds the state's prison capacity.

The prison population has increased 12 percent since Dec. 31, 1995, state
statistics show.

Population projections by the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory
Commission showed that there would be a shortage of prison beds in the
state by June 30, and that 7,600 additional prison beds would be needed by
fiscal year 2010.

State prison officials are building three 1,000-cell prisons in Alexander,
Anson and Scotland counties. But none of those will be ready for inmates
until August 2003.

State and county officials dealt with a backlog of state prisoners in
crowded county jails in the late 1990s.

In March 1996, there were 1,358 prisoners serving state-imposed sentences
in local jails.

By July 1998, every prisoner was housed in a state prison after North
Carolina completed a building program to expand prison space. But the state
is running out of prison space again.

Capt. Steve Houck of the Ashe County Sheriff's Office said that the state's
plan to hold its prisoners in county jails until prison beds become
available would increase overcrowding in his jail.

"It will make it tough on the jailers," Houck said. "It will mean that we
will have to throw more mattresses on the floor for the inmates."

There were 20 inmates in a jail that was designed to hold 17, Houck said.

Forsyth County officials said that the state's plan would increase the
number of inmates in the Forsyth County Jail.

Sheriff Ron Barker said that the state's plan would be "very detrimental to
us at this point."

There are about 240 detention officers at the Forsyth County Jail to handle
775 inmates, but the jail averages about 850 inmates a day, Barker said.

Many officers work overtime to handle the additional inmates.

The jail, which opened in 1995, has a capacity of 1,016 inmates.

"It is cheaper for the state to leave these inmates in the jails and let
the counties pay for them," Barker said. "Taxpayers in Forsyth County are
paying to house these state prisoners."

There were 985 defendants convicted in Forsyth County courts who were sent
to the state prisons in 2001, a 5 percent increase from 2000.

District Attorney Tom Keith said that prosecutors have created more space
in the jail by moving cases involving defendants charged with misdemeanors
and minor felonies quickly through the court system.

Jail cells should be used to keep habitual offenders and defendants charged
with serious drug, assault and weapon offenses, Keith said.

Keith and Barker criticized state legislators for not building more prisons
to handle overcrowding.

"It is not good for our business," Keith said.