EDITORIALS : A Prison Problem
Posted on Thursday, October 2, 2008
More bars in more places.
If this slogan weren't already taken by a certain cell-phone producer, it easily could become the Arkansas Department of Correction's rallying cry.
As is true in other states, Arkansas does not have the space to house all of its criminals. More than 1, 000 people who already have been sentenced to prison are actually in county jails, waiting for prison space to open up.
That's an obvious problem that the Department of Correction recognizes. When state legislators gather next year to figure out how to distribute $ 311 million in surplus general revenue and leftover General Improvement money, the Department of Correction will be among the first in line asking for a rather large piece of the pie - $ 200 million of it, in fact. The DOC would use most of that money, $ ™ million, to add about 2, 000 beds to the prison system through construction of either one or two new facilities.
It's highly doubtful that the Department of Correction will receive all that it wants, and it probably should not, but it can make a pretty good case for its needs.
We wish prison construction were not a topic of much importance. We would rather be talking about school construction, recreation-center construction or park construction. Prisons ? Sigh. We know it's important to maintain adequate jail space, but the thought of building prisons reminds us of our failures from a societal perspective, and the fact that, as of earlier this year, more than one out of every 100 Americans is incarcerated.
Most politicians probably don't feel any better about it than we do. They would rather be known for cleaning up the streets than for giving convicts a more comfortable place to spend five to 10 years.
What are the alternatives to prison construction ? Let us concentrate on ways to keep people from landing behind bars. One option being employed in Benton County is a work program through the Department of Community Corrections. Offenders can keep their jobs and stay with their families while going to work for a road department or a recycling center. Taxpayers are saved the $ 32. 50 per day that it costs to house an inmate, and the county saves money with the free help it gets from the convicts.
Through the first eight months of 2008, people in this program had provided 15, 077 hours of work to the county. In the process, those people get experience that builds their character and might even lead to a steady job.
How to handle the flow of folks through our criminal justice system is an issue that never will be completely resolved. What's clear, however, is that building more prisons is not the only answer. It would be unwise to deny the Department of Correction's requests for prison construction money forever, but it's also crucial that our lawmakers and those working in the criminal justice system keep pushing for alternatives to more bars.
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