The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

As a result, he asked the state Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday to authorize construction of two or three additional prisons immediately at a cost of about $200 million each.

Because of tough, mandatory sentencing laws passed over the last 25 years and what he described as a "lock 'em up, throw away the key" attitude among many legislators, judges and constituents, the state correctional system has steadily expanded from the early 1980s, when there were only eight prisons with 8,000 inmates and a departmental budget of $94 million.

Mr. Beard told the committee that just since 2001, the prison population has grown by 21 percent, from 38,000 to 46,000.

"This growth is expected to continue at an average rate of 4 percent each year through the end of 2012, reaching 57,000 state prisoners," he said.

"Without authorization for further capacity and [without] legislation to mitigate the population growth, our state prison system may run out of bed space as soon as 2010."

He said his department is trying to ease the crowding with early release for non-violent prisoners, those convicted of lesser crimes and those who show good behavior while in prison. Such inmates, who aren't considered a danger to the community, are sent to half-way houses, where they still receive supervision, once they've served their minimum sentence. But the prison population keeps growing anyway.

The system can, to some degree, "double cell," meaning put two inmates in a cell designed for just one. That is already being done in many prisons but is not feasible in all areas of all prisons, either for security or medical reasons.

The cost of feeding and clothing prisoners, providing medical treatment and programs to help them overcome addictions to drugs and alcohol keeps rising, and now averages $32,000 per year per inmate. Two of the state's prisons house female inmates, and the rest are for men.

Mr. Beard said the state needs to build at least two new prisons, and preferably three, each costing about $200 million. There are eight sites in the running for the new prison buildings. The department recommended adding new buildings at existing prisons at Rockview in Centre County, Huntingdon in Huntingdon County and Graterford in Montgomery County near Philadelphia.

Mr. Beard said it takes two to three years to complete a new prison, so the state should get started soon for at least one of the new prisons to be ready by 2010.

Mr. Beard asked legislators to include $600 million in the next state capital budget, which will be voted on in late June or early July, at the same time the Legislature adopts a new operating budget of about $28.3 billion.

Capital projects totaling $11 billion are being requested by various state officials and legislators. Far less than that will actually be spent on capital projects, which are funded by massive borrowing that the state must repay.

Before a project can move ahead, the Legislature must approve it and then Gov. Ed Rendell must release the money.

Mr. Beard also gave the committee a short rundown on State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh, which was closed several years ago but now has been reopened due to the prison crowding crisis. It's being used for prisoners with drug and alcohol problems who are from the western part of the state. There are currently 932 inmates, with capacity for 1,500.

He wasn't sure how long it would remain open, saying much depends on how fast the new prisons are built and whether the growth in inmates slows down.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08060/861420-85.stm