Indiana almost out of prison space-WEB ONLY

Department of Correction leaders thought their prison crowding problem would be alleviated – at least a bit – when Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed expanding two prisons to add 1,200 beds. Daniels said it was a priority because Indiana’s prisons are at about 99 percent of capacity.

But Democrats who control the Indiana House objected to Daniels’ plans, and the Republican governor later dropped the idea as a political olive branch.

Now prison officials are back to square one, scrambling to find ways to deal with more inmates without more space.

“We’re working all the time on it,” said DOC spokesman Doug Garrison. “We’re trying the best we can to maximize our occupancy with the facilities that we have.”

The state’s prison population of about 27,000 grows by about 4 percent a year, or about 1,000 inmates. Community correction programs and alternative sentencing options such as house arrest can help keep those who have committed minor crimes out of prisons.

Those aren’t options, however, for inmates who have committed serious crimes or have a long criminal record.

The Daniels administration and DOC officials say it’s too early to know exactly how the state will deal with the increasing number of prisoners. No specific solutions have been proposed, but some options are already off the table.

Daniels said earlier this year that he doesn’t want to let inmates out early as other states have done. Daniels’ budget director, Chris Ruhl, said early release is still not an option for Indiana.

Garrison said Indiana also isn’t considering sending prisoners out of state or taking prisoners from other states to raise money. The first requires cash the DOC doesn’t have, while the second would use space the state can’t afford to give up. Space at the privately run New Castle Correctional Facility that once held inmates from Arizona is now full of Indiana prisoners.

Some advocacy groups fear that states struggling with crowded prisons and little cash will increasingly turn to private facilities, which some consider less accountable than state-run prisons.

But private facilities charge per inmate per day, and Garrison said those fees aren’t looking very “fiscally appealing” as state revenue collections have fallen millions of dollars short of expectations.

He said prison officials instead may consider changing parole programs so that those breaking parole on “technical” violations – not those who commit another crime – could avoid landing back in prison. If a person on parole fails a drug test, for example, the DOC could order more frequent testing instead of sending that person back to jail, Garrison said.

The department also could turn space such as gymnasiums or other rooms at prisons into housing units and increase the number of inmates bunked in a cell.

“We don’t have a choice,” said Amanda Copeland, director of the DOC’s Planning and Research Division. “We have to find a solution.”

Crystal Garcia, an associate professor of criminal justice at IUPUI, suggested that the state examine whether all maximum-security prisoners really belong in that classification.

“Are they figuring that too many of these people are maximum security, or is it that they’re all rapists and murderers?” she asked.

Garrison said the department continually reviews its classification process.

“We’re not out there trying to load up our maximum-security prisons,” he said. “We do it because their crime and their behavior warrant it.”

Maximum security prisoners make up the fastest-growing segment of the prison population, but low- and medium-security prisons are also nearly full, Garrison said.

Any solutions now will likely be short term. Daniels says that when he first took office in 2005, he was told he would need to build more prisons soon.

“Unless a prison magically drops down from the sky, we’re going to have to find a way to get it,” Garrison said.