PLANNING FOR MORE PRISONERS

Hardly anyone opposes politicians who want to get tough on crime, but
county commissioners worried about jail overcrowding feel a bit conflicted
over pending bills that would send more people to prison or keep them there
longer. County commissioners and county sheriffs tangled legally with the
state over prisoners who spend longer than the legal 30 days in county
jails before they are transferred to the state prisons.

Because of a lack of prison space, inmates are often housed much longer in
county lockups. A judge's ruling last year gave the administration until
April 1 to get inmates out of county jails who've overstayed their 30 days.
The administration came up with a plan to accommodate the number of
prisoners to be transferred. Some elements of that plan are still pending.
But some proposed laws may send more people to prison, like a bill approved
by a House committee last week allowing 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds to be
tried as adults for some serious crimes.

The bill would allow the juveniles to be transferred from a juvenile
facility to state prison after they turn 21. Gov. Don Siegelman has
proposed another bill to require those convicted of certain serious crimes
to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. Assistant Director Sonny
Brasfield of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama expressed
concern that lawmakers will pass popular get-tough-on-crime bills without
thinking about prison overcrowding and the subsequent jail overcrowding. He
suggests an amendment to as many of the crime bills as possible requiring
the state to transfer these inmates after only 20 days in a county jail.

It's not a bad idea.

Siegelman says if the amendment is added to the crime bills, he will try to
include an executive amendment applying the 20-day rule only to counties
with drug courts or other alternative sentencing programs for nonviolent
offenders. That's not a bad idea either.

Siegelman says some counties "lock up anyone" without trying to find
alternatives for nonviolent offenders. He's right; counties should work
toward programs that will save prison space for serious offenders. And the
commissioners are right also. The state has to continue to work toward
state versions of those same types of programs and lawmakers have to keep
limited prison space in mind as they continue to get tough on violent
offenders.