Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Meanwhile, a Democratic member of the commission complained that the group isn't paying enough attention to cheaper, community-based alternatives as a way to cut prison-building costs.
The remarks came as the group pressed toward an Aug. 19 unveiling of a parole abolition plan that, if approved, is expected to produce the most significant overhaul of state prison procedures in decades. A special session of the legislature will consider the plan in September.
The group has remained mum on the cost of their recommendations, but there are growing hints that it won't be cheap.
"I don't want to quantify the investment, but the governor has made it clear that there's going to be a need for more prison space," said Richard Cullen, a Richmond lawyer who is heading the commission. In the long run, "it's going to be worth it," he said.
The 7,100-bed shortfall was projected last year, based on the already-dwindling use of parole. But that computation was made when 28 percent of the people up for parole were being approved; the parole grant rate has since dropped to 15 percent.
A subcommittee report released Monday blamed the bed gap on "nothing being budgeted by the previous administration for prison construction."
But Del. James Almand of Arlington, one of two Democratic lawmakers on the commission, challenged that assertion. During the administration of former Democratic Gov. Douglas Wilder, who left office in January, "the General Assembly has approved nine new prisons totaling 7,000 beds," he said.
Those beds will cost about $266 million, to be paid off over 20 years. Elimination of the shortfall might cost a similar sum.
The subcommittee agreed to amend the language about the Wilder administration.
The group proposed creating 10 or so prison "work centers," less-secure - and less-costly - facilities adjacent to existing prisons.
Inmates assigned to those facilities would have to fit a nonviolent profile and undergo extensive screening before being admitted. They would be put to work on prison farms, road maintenance or similar public works projects.
Virginia backed away from community work programs for inmates after a convict on work release raped and murdered a Prince William County woman about a decade ago.
"We have to be very careful in the selection process," Cullen said. "But we believe [the return] warrants the risk."
The task force estimates that about 1,300 of the system's 19,300 inmates could be put to work in such centers immediately, with the pool potentially growing to as many as 5,000.
The subcommittee also recommended doubling up inmates in existing cells, creating 2,100 new bed spaces, and allotting 700 beds to treating inmates with serious substance abuse problems.
The commission hasn't said how many new beds will be needed if it follows through on Allen's proposal to increase by 50 percent the amount of prison time being served by murderers, rapists, robbers and other violent criminals.
Almand, whose support likely will be crucial for Allen, also questioned whether the group is paying too little attention to alternatives to incarceration. "The initial draft seems to place emphasis on incarceration," he said.
"A lot more ... could be spelled out" about alternatives, he said.
Henry Hudson, a former federal prosecutor who presented the report, promised that several such proposals are yet to be unveiled.
Meanwhile, Democratic Lt. Gov. Don Beyer responded to a challenge by Cullen to support the Allen plan by saying, "My only hesitation ... is that I haven't read it yet."
by CNB