News from the Senate Majority

Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
web site: http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

For Immediate Release: April 10, 1997 Contact: Senator Jerry Ward, 907/465-4940

Senate Corrections Plan Addresses Alaska’s Prison Overcrowding

Juneau -- To address Alaska’s prison and jail overcrowding that has escalated to emergency levels, legislators Thursday announced a plan to add 1,200 new prison and jail beds to the corrections system through privately owned and operated facilities.

Legislation will be introduced which seeks to resolve Alaska’s current prison overcrowding problem by authorizing the Department of Corrections to contract directly for privately built and operated facilities in the Matanuska Valley and in the City of Seward. The Matanuska Valley pre-trial/prison facility would house 700 inmate beds and the Seward medium security prison would facilitate 500 beds.

Senator Drue Pearce (R-Anchorage), Co-Chair Senate Finance, noted that Alaska’s correctional facilities are so overcrowded now that crime suspects are often not arrested or prosecuted. 14 of 15 Alaska jails and prisons are currently filled beyond "emergency capacity" and as a result, Alaska pays a $5,000 per day court fine. In addition to the fine, Alaska also is forced to send more than 200 prisoners to facilities in other states, including a private prison in Arizona at an annual cost of $5 million.

"In our Commitment to Alaska, we promised Alaskans we would reduce the cost of state government and help make our neighborhoods safe," Pearce said. "This proposal does both. By contracting these facilities to the private sector, we will save the state millions and enhance public safety by providing the space needed to keep Alaska’s criminals behind bars."

Senator Jerry Ward (R-Kenai and South Anchorage), who has led efforts to craft a solution, noted that the state faces a serious problem in dealing with growing inmate populations.

"It is very clear that the citizens of Anchorage do not want a new prison facility built in their community," Ward said.

"My goal has been to find a solution that addresses the state’s needs without building correctional facilities in communities that don’t want them," said Ward. "South-central Alaska’s demand for prison and jail space can be satisfied without forcing a prison on the residents of Anchorage."

House Speaker Gail Phillips also stressed that overcrowding in Alaska's prisons has been a problem for decades. "I am enthusiastic we have a proposal on the table that meets Alaska's current correction needs while achieving significant savings for taxpayers," said Phillips. "We look forward to taking a close look at the bill once it reaches the House."

In the 1980’s the corrections budget was $22 million. Last year, the Department of Corrections (DOC) operating budget had grown to nearly $140 million representing a 600 percent increase in just 14 years. The cost of Alaska’s DOC is twice the national average per prisoner.

Ward noted that experience in other states has demonstrated that private correctional facilities are much cheaper to build and operate and are equally safe.

"Privatization of corrections is a great example of an area where Alaska can benefit from a private public sector partnership," Ward said. "Privatization will save taxpayers millions of dollars and will allow facilities to be brought on line much sooner because the private industry can build a new prison much faster than government could."

"This corrections plan will not only solve Alaska’s immediate need for more jail and prison space to eliminate overcrowding, it will produce jobs for Alaskans," Pearce said. "Approximately 400 construction jobs and 200 full-time positions will be created and millions of dollars will go to local suppliers."

"We have in this plan the chance to make each community happy, a chance to save Alaska taxpayers millions of dollars, and a chance to solve a critical problem facing Alaska today," said Ward.

###

Broadcast Note: Excerpts from the press conference are available by calling 800/478-6540.
^{= Jerry Ward, 164K = Jerry Ward, 172K = Drue Pearce, 216K = Eldon Mulder, 174K}

Corrections Plan Synopsis

The Corrections Plan offers a solution to prison and jail overcrowding that balances state and local interests, significantly reduces state corrections costs, enhances public safety and offers a rational foundation for future growth.

Summary of Problem

Currently 14 of 15 Alaska jails and prisons are overcrowded to "emergency levels". As a result, the State of Alaska pays $5,000 per day in court-ordered fines. Moreover, Department of Corrections projections show a need for roughly 1,200 prison and jail beds by 1999 to simply hold the system at maximum capacity.

Discussion:

• During the 1980’s Corrections grew from a small division of Department of Health and Social Services with a $22 million operating budget into the 3rd largest department in government, with a current operating budget of nearly $140 million. With a 600% increase in just 14 years, the corrections budget has grown faster than the pace of all other departments combined.
  
• The cost of corrections in Alaska far exceeds the national average and is driven by inefficient facilities design, minimal economies of scale, and generous correctional officer wage and benefits not found in other states.

The Senate Corrections Plan

Authorize the Department of Corrections (DOC) to contract directly for a privately built and operated 700 bed pre-trial / prison facility in the Matanuska Valley (Mat-Su).

Authorize the Department of Corrections to purchase 500 new medium security prison beds from the City of Seward.

Discussion: Matanuska Valley Pre-trial/Prison Facility - 700 beds

• The lion’s share of prison and jail bed demand is in the Anchorage area. Building and expanding facilities in South-central Alaska will capture economies of scale, relieve regional jail space pressure and accommodate South-central demand.
  
• While some communities do not want correctional facilities, others do. South-central demand for prison and jail space can be satisfied with less community opposition in some locations of the Matanuska Valley and at Seward, then would be the case in Anchorage.
  
• Anchorage needs 400 jail beds to meet local demand for felony and misdemeanant arrests. By building a pre-trial/prison facility in the Matanuska Valley, Anchorage would be able to use Cook Inlet Pre-trial (CIPT) as a booking facility for all arrests. Siting concerns in Anchorage would be laid to rest for years to come.
  
• After stabilization and initial court appearances, many misdemeanants could be transferred to local CRC’s. Long-term prisoners awaiting trial (often 12 - 24 months) could be transferred to the close custody section of the new Matanuska Valley pre-trial/prison facility.
  
• At present, around 50 percent of the Anchorage CIPT population is probation and parole violators, or sentenced offenders. Most of those inmates could be held in the new Mat-Su facility thereby freeing up needed jail space in Anchorage.

Discussion: Seward Medium Security Prison - 500 beds

• DOC planners acknowledge that most of the demand for prison beds is to accommodate the growing number of medium security inmates. The addition of 500 medium security prison beds in Seward, combined with the new Mat-Su facility prison beds, will satisfy current projections for state corrections needs.

Impact on Regional Jail Demand

Transferring sentenced felons from regional jails to centrally located prisons will free up jail beds throughout the State.

Discussion

• When a community is large enough to require police and courts, there must be enough jail beds to house prisoners until trial and sentencing. After sentencing, short-term misdemeanants are transferred to local halfway houses. Long-term misdemeanants and felons should be transferred to prisons. Unfortunately, current overcrowding conditions often prevent transfer and create overcrowding conditions at local jails.
  
• Due to a shortage of bed space, Corrections currently houses prisoners wherever beds are available at tremendous cost to the State.
  
• Jail beds should be reserved for local pre-trial demand and short-term confinement of pre-release felons awaiting furlough to halfway houses or release.

Corrections Fact Sheet

• In 1982, the corrections budget was $22 million. Last year, the Department of Corrections (DOC) budget had grown to nearly $140 million representing a 600% increase in just 14 years. In fact, the DOC budget has grown at a rate faster than all other departments of state government combined.
  
• 14 of 15 Alaska jails and prisons now exceed emergency levels of overcrowding. The overcrowding conditions violate a state court order and result in the state being assessed $5000 per day in court fines.
  
• Alaska’s inmate population has increased 300% since 1984.
  
• A 1994 state study identified the immediate need for 1,120 new prison and jail beds. Due to fiscal restraints, the state has not constructed any new facilities in the past 7 years.
  
• Currently, Alaska spends $5 million per year to send inmates to prisons in other states, including a private prison in Arizona.
  
• Alaska’s prisons and jails are so overcrowded that crime suspects are often not arrested or prosecuted because there is no room for them in the system.
  
• 23 states allow private correctional facilities. Experience has shown that private facilities are as safe as government-run facilities.
  
• Private industry could build a new corrections facility in about half the time it would take government to build one at a cost savings of 20% or more -- resulting in tens of millions of dollars of savings for taxpayers.
  
• The average cost to Alaska taxpayers for state employee union corrections officer is more than twice the national average.
  
• Alaska’s government-run corrections facilities cost taxpayers approximately $145 per prisoner per day (operating and capital costs). A privately run corrections facility would cost taxpayers substantially less -- estimates are around $85 per prisoner per day.
  
• Under this legislation private correctional officers would have to meet the same qualification standards as government correctional officers.
  
• Construction of new facilities in the Mat-Su and Seward would ease overcrowding conditions at regional jails throughout Alaska. Sentenced felons currently housed in regional jails could be transferred to the new permanent facilities, an option not currently available because of lack of prison space.
  
• Under this plan, needed jail space in Anchorage would be freed. Many long term prisoners currently housed at Anchorage’s Cook Inlet Pre-trial, could be transferred to the new prisons or to other existing facilities. (see Plan synopsis).