STATE CAN'T KEEP UP WITH PRISON POPULATION

JEFFERSON CITY -- State Department of Corrections and Division of Design and Construction officials are working furiously to keep ahead of Missouri's rapidly rising prison population, which on Saturday stood at 18,080 and was growing by slightly more than six prisoners daily.

Planning for new cells has such a high priority that two proposed units have yet to be publicly announced and another isn't yet on the drawing board. Those that have been announced include three new facilities at Vandalia, Bowling Green and Maryville and expansions of prisons at Fulton and Tipton.

The tentative new units include a major expansion of the medium prison at Cameron and construction of a new diagnostic receiving and correctional facility somewhere in eastern Missouri. Currently there is no funding for either of these proposed units, but construction could be speeded by the use of plans for other prisons.

Corrections officials, who previously said they were overwhelmed by the rapid increase in the number of convicts, are looking for new superlatives. Just three months ago, when Gov. Mel Carnahan said the state was experiencing an emergency in trying to handle its growing prison population, the entry rate was about five prisoners a day. The number soon will approach seven daily if the current rate continues.

To visualize just now many inmates are being held by Corrections, the best example can be found in comparing the number to the residents of Missouri's 114 counties. The current prison population exceeds the total number of residents in 61 of the counties.

Officials in the Division of Design and Construction, which is within the Office of Administration, are negotiating with city officials at Cameron on a major expansion to the existing high-medium security unit there. While cities at one time were wiling to supply not only land but bear much of the cost of expanded municipal services, the expanded prison-building activity has produced a more cautious approach by local economic developers. In discussing plans to add 1,200 cells at Cameron, state officials have been told they will have to cough up $1 million to help pay for expanding local utility services to serve the addition. Administration officials are still mulling over the Cameron demand to determine utilization cost-effectiveness.

While no location decision has been reached on the proposed eastern diagnostic-detention center, it is believed some expense will be saved by using plans for previously-built units. That is at least one advantage of building new prisons at such a rapid rate. Prison facilities are pretty much the same, except for security levels, and basic design for holding cells hasn't changed much over the last century.

In addition to the new units being constructed, the state has undertaken expansions at two existing facilities. Some 800 prisoners will be added to the existing Tipton unit by way of expansion, and another 200 will be housed in an expansion program at the diagnostic-confinement center at Fulton.

As Missouri rushes to handle its increasing prison population, officials have used some structures and services that were already in place. For example, the Fulton diagnostic unit was placed adjoining the grounds of the Fulton State Hospital, and some of its facilities are now used by the corrections agency. Similar use of mental health services was made at the Farmington prison. The downsizing of the St. Joseph State Hospital also permitted prison use of the Park Building on the hospital campus.

An abandoned Roman Catholic convent east of Maryville soon will be converted to a facility for low-security prisoners.