Prisons are target in budget crunch

In the years since state prisons became a major industry and a leading employer, the number of Missouri's prisons has swelled and the number of inmates has mushroomed. Currently, the state has 22 prison facilities and nearly 29,000 inmates.

But both the number of prisons and the number of inmates could drop dramatically if funding for prisons is cut as the Missouri Legislature looks for ways to make ends meet.

The House Appropriations Committee for Corrections and Public Safety asked Corrections Department officials to consider budget cuts of $35 million and $65 million. Under the smaller cut, the Corrections Department says it would be forced to close five prisons and three makeshift housing units and release more than 3,600 prisoners. Under the larger cut, eight prisons and one makeshift housing unit would be shut down, along with releasing nearly 6,200 inmates.

Meanwhile, more prisons are needed, according to the Corrections Department. Indeed, Gov. Bob Holden's budget calls for spending $30 million to open the completed prison at Bonne Terre and another $10.2 million to upgrade the new prison at Charleston.

Missouri is not alone in having more prisons than it can afford. In Illinois, officials are looking at a shutdown of the state prison at Vienna, which is that community's main employer.

That's what prisons have become in the past 20 or 30 years. More and more prisons have been built to house more and more inmates serving mandatory sentences legislated during a get-tough-on-criminals era. As a result, Missouri communities have competed vigorously to be selected as a prison site, mainly because of the construction jobs and ongoing payroll. It wasn't that many years ago that some Missouri towns fought just as hard to keep prisons from being built.

What's hard to be sure of during the current budgeting process is whether or not any prisons would really be closed or whether or not any inmates would be set free if budgets are reduced. Every state agency is playing hardball this year -- after a decade of increasing state spending that has risen much faster than inflation or just about any other reasonable measure of growth.

With more than $40 million of new spending planned for the Bonne Terre and Charleston prisons, some lawmakers are likely to be tempted to cut those plans rather than take a whack at spending for other prisons. But corrections officials point out that those two prisons are needed to house dangerous prisoners. Any cuts, they say, should be made in the operations of release centers and minimum-security prisons.

Meanwhile, prison budgets will have to compete with education, transportation, public health, public safety and sports stadiums in this year of too many programs, but not enough money.