ALTERNATIVES TO PRISON CELLS COULD CUT COSTS

Missouri will spend an additional $24 million in the coming fiscal year to help alleviate overcrowding in the state's prisons, if Gov. Mel Carnahan's proposals are approved. The state has more than 17,000 inmates, well over 100 percent of the system's capacity, and the additional money will allow the state to start construction of more than half of the governor's planned 6,500 additional prison spaces.

Missourians troubled by increasing lawlessness and the seemingly futile efforts of law enforcement to keep criminals behind bars likely can find a lot worse things to spend $24 million on than extra prison space. And yet the cost of keeping convicted criminals behind bars has grown in Missouri at an alarming rate. Taxpayers spend more than $1 billion annually to apprehend, convict and imprison criminals in Missouri, which is more than what we spend on state-supported colleges and education. With the state's prison population increasing at a rate of more than five new inmates daily, it isn't likely costs will wane anytime soon.

The problem of burgeoning prison populations isn't unique to Missouri. Across the country, states and counties are being forced to allocate public funds away from other services to accommodate increasing numbers of inmates as crime rates soar not only in urban areas but in outstate, rural communities as well.

Most persons express frustration at the number of convicted criminals who serve only a tiny portion of their jail sentences before they're released to make room for more criminals. Missourians, generally, have shown a willingness to address the rising crime rate by accepting a greater tax burden to build more prisons and fund greater law enforcement efforts. But they also know the problem goes beyond simply warehousing prisoners.

Yes, criminals must be apprehended, tried and locked up. Individuals must identify and repel those in their neighborhoods who threaten the fabric of the community. But citizens are beginning to realize rising crime rates are a symptom of a greater disease, a cancer that seems steadily to corrupt society, and that in the long run, public well being depends primarily on private virtue.

Short of a renaissance in morality, though, ways must be found to punish and deter criminals, particularly non-violent criminals, that are more cost-effective than simply locking them away. In St. Louis recently, a man convicted to a year a prison for his role in the hazing death of a Southeast Missouri State University student was released shortly after his incarceration on an electronic shackle program. Electronic monitoring of a convicted killer isn't what most people have in mind when they speak of alternate sentencing. But electronic shackling is one way to deter less-violent criminals from further preying on society.

During the flood of 1993, inmates sentenced to "boot camp" prison programs sandbagged against the rising Mississippi River. Although imprisoned at a cost to taxpayers, these inmates at least provided a service to community.

There are many other options being explored by law enforcement and judicial officials across the nation. Missouri would do well to consider some of these alternatives while continuing to build and staff additional, expensive prisons.