STATE BUDGET FOR PRISONS HAS DOUBLED IN 10 YEARS

(AP) -- The state has doubled the amount it spends on public and private
prisons in the last 10 years, reaching nearly $400 million last year.

During the same time, the number of prisoners has increased from about
14,400 to more than 22,500, records show.

The increases have some state lawmakers throwing their support behind
community sentencing and drug programs that could cut down on the prison
population.

"The obscenity is spending less than $5,000 to educate a child and more
than $20,000 on a felon," said Sen. Dick Wilkerson. "It just flies in the
face of logic."

Wilkerson, D-Atwood, and other legislators support programs that divert
criminals from prisons and steer them away from crime.

Community sentencing programs began in Oklahoma as pilot projects in 2000.
They offer education, counseling and treatment for nonviolent offenders who
live and work in the community. The offenders are supervised for up to
three years.

Fifty-nine counties now have community sentencing programs. So far, the
failure rate is five percent.

Drug courts, started in 1995, are operating in 23 counties.

Those involved in drug courts include judges, prosecutors, probation
personnel, police officers, mental health and health professionals, and
educators. Offenders brought into drug court usually have drug- related
charges such as bogus checks, forging prescriptions and burglary.

They undergo counseling and treatment and close supervision, which includes
random drug testing.

The success rate is from 79 percent to 82 percent.

No other state agency's budget has increased as much as the budget for the
Department of Corrections, said Sen. Cal Hobson, D- Lexington, vice
chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The Corrections Department wants $46 million more this session to finish
the fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The Legislature has struggled to find money for prisons since 1973, when a
riot destroyed much of the inmate housing areas at the state penitentiary
at McAlester.

Oklahoma's prison system came under federal court supervision about the
same time. That forced the state to spend even more to meet court
guidelines on such things as better housing conditions for inmates and
medical care.

Gov. Frank Keating successfully promoted the use of private prisons for
housing some of Oklahoma's inmates.

Private prisons now have almost 26 percent of the state's inmates. The
state pays $43 per day per inmate for housing.