Talks on prisoner transfers to Missouri preliminary

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri is considering but has no immediate plans to accept prisoners from Arizona as part of a plan to relieve prison crowding there, a Missouri Corrections Department official said Tuesday.

Last week, an adviser for Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano suggested that Missouri is one of the states being considered for a potential prisoner transfer. Arizona has 30,700 prisoners -- about 4,000 more than the prison system's capacity.

John Fougere, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said Tuesday that preliminary talks had begun between the two states about a possible prisoner transfer.

"But we are a long way from any kind of decision," Fougere said. "It was my understanding that they had contacted several other states as well."

Arizona officials were forced to scrap plans to build a new prison when the state economy dipped.

Missouri, which has its own budget problems, is opening a new prison in Bonne Terre, Mo., where inmates from Arizona potentially could be held, Fougere said. That would require parts of the prison to be staffed and equipped sooner than planned, he said.

"It could create some extra costs to Missouri taxpayers. These are things were are looking at and considering," said Fougere, who added that Missouri's own growing inmate population might make a transfer unlikely.

Since 1991, Missouri's prison population has doubled to more than 30,000 inmates in about 20 institutions.

Dennis Burke, a senior adviser to Napolitano who mentioned Missouri as possible destination for Arizona prisoners, did not immediately return a phone call Tuesday from The Associated Press.

To slow inmate growth and save the state money, Missouri lawmakers recently passed legislation relaxing some criminal sentencing laws. The bill, which is pending before Gov. Bob Holden, is expected to save Missouri about $50 million over the next three years.

Construction of the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Center in Bonne Terre was completed in October 2001 but budget shortfalls left lawmakers unable to fund its operation.

The facility stood empty for 15 months before receiving its first inmates earlier this year. The prison, the largest in the state, was built to hold 2,684 inmates.