Pubdate: Fri, 08 Dec 2000
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2000 The Oregonian
Contact:  1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/

SHORTER WASHINGTON DRUG SENTENCES PROPOSED

Prison Officials Suggest The State, Which Is Facing A Budget 
Shortfall, Can Save $26 Million Over Two Years

OLYMPIA -- State prison officials, responding to a request by Gov. 
Gary Locke to identify possible budget cuts, say shorter sentences 
for some drug offenders could save taxpayers $26 million during the 
next two years.

The proposal is part of an effort by state agencies to identify 
possible cuts to help resolve an upcoming budget shortfall. The state 
is facing expenses that exceed the voter-approved spending cap by at 
least $1.1 billion.

Locke must submit his budget proposal to the Legislature in two weeks.

Under the proposal sent to him by the Corrections Department, drug 
offenders already in custody could have their sentences shortened, 
freeing up 525 to 700 prison beds.

Another option is to reduce prison terms for nonviolent drug users 
convicted in the future for possessing or selling drugs, Margaret 
Vonheeder, deputy secretary for administration for the Department of 
Corrections, said Wednesday.

The suggested changes would buck a trend toward longer sentences.

"You'd be looking at people who pose the lowest risk to public 
safety," Vonheeder said. "We've talked about a lot of different 
sentencing changes."

The governor's criminal-justice adviser, Dick Van Wagenen, said Locke 
is still reviewing agency spending proposals. But the ideas deserve a 
public discussion, Van Wagenen said.

"The budget problems the state faces are very large and very, very 
real," he said. "I don't think anything is going to be off the table 
in terms of how the Legislature deals with them."

Also proposed for cuts are drug treatment inside prison walls for 
some inmates, as well as elimination of all vocational training 
behind bars.

Vonheeder said that cuts to drug treatment and vocational training 
are "antithetical" to the agency's efforts to rehabilitate offenders 
and see them re-enter society with a smaller risk of committing more 
crimes but that she sees no other way to make large spending cuts 
without cutting full programs.
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