Corrections - More cuts could close prisons

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Lawmakers looking to balance the state budget have been told by the Corrections Department that more cuts could force it to close prisons and release inmates.

That possibility isn't going over well with some House members, who are seeking to cut money -- beyond what Gov. Bob Holden had recommended -- from all state agency budgets.

"I don't agree with these scenarios, but it does have the effect that was definitely needed, and that is to get everybody involved to look at what's in the budget," state Rep. Glenda Kelly, D-St. Joseph, said Monday.

Options discussed

Kelly, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee for Corrections and Public Safety, had asked the Corrections Department to come up with scenarios if lawmakers cut $35 million or $65 million out of Holden's budget proposal for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Under the smaller option, the department said it would close five prisons and three makeshift housing units at other prisons, resulting in the release of 3,689 inmates.

That's almost 13 percent of Missouri's inmate population, which was slightly more than 28,902 as of Friday. The state operates 22 prisons, including two community release centers.

If $65 million were cut, the Corrections Department said it would close eight prisons and one makeshift housing unit at another prison, resulting in the release of nearly 6,198 inmates.

Kelly said the closings and releases should be the last option -- after saving money through efficiencies and eliminating Holden's proposal for $30 million to open a prison at Bonne Terre and $10.2 million to expand a prison at Charleston.

A corrections spokesman said the Bonne Terre and Charleston prisons were needed to hold dangerous prisoners. If closings are unavoidable, the department would look first at community release centers, minimum-security prisons and some medium-security prisons.

But the department would prefer that legislators approve Holden's proposed budget without making many additional cuts.

"We don't want to close the institutions, and we don't want to release those inmates prior to their established release dates," said Corrections Department spokesman Tim Kniest.

Long process

The various House appropriations committees are looking for places to cut budgets at the suggestion of House Budget Chairman Tim Green, D-St. Louis.

In a Feb. 12 memo to colleagues, Green said the appropriations committees should be approving budget amounts that match Holden's proposal or the expected expenditures for the current fiscal year, whichever is smaller.

To remain in balance, Holden's proposed budget relies on new funding from gambling taxes and other areas, as well as the use of the state's savings account. Some of those aspects would require changes in law or an extraordinary vote from the Legislature.