The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The number of inmates on work release will be increased from 1,800 to about 3,300, about the same number that were on work release four years ago, said Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen. And certain inmates near the end of their sentences will be moved to halfway houses to receive training under a supervised re-entry program.

DOC had a record 29,029 inmates as of May, department spokesman Brian Corbett said.

Sale of the land, in the Montgomery area and in Greensboro, could generate up to $22 million, DOC officials said.

"These properties are a financial drain on the taxpayers and aren't needed. It makes no sense to hold on to them," Riley said Wednesday. "We will sell them, relieve this burden on the taxpayers and use the money for some long-needed improvements to correctional facilities."

Riley said the land sale will not stop with corrections, and other agencies with large land holdings, including the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, might soon sell excess property. He said all state property to be sold will be appraised, advertised and sold to the highest bidder.

Riley said the state plans to terminate a contract with two private Louisiana companies that house 1,300 Alabama inmates - 900 men and 400 women. The inmates were sent to Louisiana because of crowding at state prisons.

All of the inmates will be back in Alabama by the end of November, Riley spokesman Jeff Emerson said.

Critics and inmate advocates had denounced the housing of inmates so far from their families and lawyers.

Opening up space:

Prison officials said increasing inmates on the work-release program, which is open only to nonviolent offenders, will open space in state prisons for violent offenders.

Prisoners on work release give a portion of their salaries to the state, and their earnings could mean $9 million more for state prisons, according to information from Riley's office. "Work release and bringing prisoners home saves money," Emerson said.

Putting more inmates who are due to be released before long in halfway houses also would help ease crowding in prisons, as well as offering training to inmates in the hope they will not commit more crimes.

"Supervised re-entry will make our communities safer. It helps inmates who are about to be released to adjust to life outside of prison," Allen said.

Diverting nonviolent offenders to work release and other changes to open prison beds could ease crowding. However, it's uncertain how long the relief would last because the flow of newly sentenced felons continues.

Additional changes:
Other steps DOC officials said will help ease prison crowding include thefollowing:

A 400-bed Community Education Center in Columbiana for nonviolent inmates will open in November. Inmates at the center will receive job training and drug abuse treatment for six months before transferring to work release. The center will open up 800 prison beds each year.

A renovated warehouse at Limestone Correctional Facility will begin housing 300 inmates in September.

The Montgomery Pre-Release Facility behind Kilby Correctional Facility in Mount Meigs is being converted into a new women's facility to house 300 inmates. Construction is expected to be complete by November.

PRISON LAND PLANNED FOR SALE

1,851 acres of the 2,215 acres at Red Eagle Honor Farm in Montgomery
The remaining 3,869 acres of the Farquhar State Cattle Ranch in Greensboro
An empty 16,000-square-foot building in downtown Montgomery
32 acres in Wetumpka
10 acres at the old Kilby prison in Montgomery
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1184230293107070.
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