Pubdate: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 Source: Charleston Daily Mail (WV) Copyright: 2005 Charleston Daily Mail Contact: http://www.dailymail.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/76 Author: Vicki Smith, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) REPORT: W.VA. MUST CAP PRISON POPULATION MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia lawmakers should cap prison populations at current levels and fund a statewide day-reporting program for nonviolent offenders that could save tens of millions of dollars a year, two groups conclude in a new report on the explosive cost of corrections. The Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University and the West Virginia Council of Churches authored the report to be released today in Charleston. It was co-sponsored by Grassroots Leadership, an activist group in Charlotte, N.C., that focuses on criminal justice and opposes privately run prisons. The number of people imprisoned in West Virginia more than doubled between 1994 and 2004, from 2,392 to 5,032, the report says. In 2001, the state had the nation's highest growth rate in incarceration at 9.3 percent -- even though the population and crime rates remained flat. If the trend continues, the report says, prison populations could soar another 35 percent by 2012. "The state must ensure public safety. But it cannot afford to mortgage its economic and educational future to an ever-expanding prison system," said Jill Kriesky, executive director of the Appalachian Institute. The report notes that investment in education has been nearly flat since 1990, while the state has spent nearly $120 million to build new prisons. The Rev. Brian O'Donnell, research director at the Appalachian Institute, said Wheeling Jesuit began studying corrections spending last fall in hopes of finding money that could be freed up for need-based scholarships. The report advocates expansion of low-cost programs like the Lee Day Report Center, which serves nonviolent offenders in Marshall, Ohio, Hancock and Brooke counties. In West Virginia, two of every five felony convictions stem from a nonviolent crime, O'Donnell said. Those people could be well served by day reporting centers. Expanding them statewide would create huge savings, the report says -- $18 million to $27 million per year with three centers, and $42 million to $63 million with seven centers. "Day report centers are a no-brainer," O'Donnell said. "Just fund the things. Were the appropriations to be made, these could move forward very quickly." Gov. Joe Manchin's budget proposes an $800,000 infusion for community corrections. But the Rev. Dennis Sparks, executive director of the West Virginia Council of Churches, would like to see at least $2 million set aside. The report finds two main causes for prison growth: Some crimes in West Virginia carry longer sentences than other states impose, and state officials have become less likely to dole out parole. - ---