Plan includes money for prison
By MIKE CORN
Thursday's proposal by House Republicans to bridge the gap in the state's budget crunch includes money to reopen the Stockton Correctional Facility -- closed last year by previous budget cuts.
But it's a proposal that raises perhaps more questions than it answers, and would be enough to only pay for the final three months of fiscal year 2011.
The proposal, however, quickly was slammed by Gov. Mark Parkinson.
"The cuts now proposed by House Republican leadership are, in a word, irresponsible," he said in a statement. "They are proposing that we cut schools, cut services for the vulnerable and cut programs which directly impact public safety. While I appreciate their willingness to put forward a plan, it is the wrong plan for Kansas."
The plan for the first time addresses the fact the Kansas Department of Corrections is in need of additional capacity to house a burgeoning male inmate population.
The GOP proposal, presented Thursday, called for $500,000 to be added to the 2011 budget to "begin preparation for the re-opening of the Stockton Correctional Facility if Sentencing Commission indicates that prisons will be at 99 percent of capacity within two years," a three-page document explaining the proposal states.
That's already the case, according to DOC spokesman Bill Miskell.
The problem isn't with female prisoners, he said, because there's plenty of bed space for them.
But as far as the male inmate population is concerned, there's a capacity of 8,131. As of Wednesday afternoon, the actual population stood at 8,174.
"We're 43 beds over our normal capacity at the present time," he said.
The Stockton facility, Miskell said, would add 128 minimum-security beds to the prison system, relieving some of the strain from the additional inmates.
The problem comes from a requirement that the money can be released only if the secretary of corrections certifies "the additional beds are needed to prevent release of prisoners."
The DOC doesn't have the authority to certify that release will be necessary, he said.
If the requirement is simply to certify the money is needed to prevent overcrowding, that can be done.
"It appears there is recognition that we have been experience concerning capacity issues," Miskell said.
The $500,000 that has been proposed, he said, would allow DOC to restart the facility, and hire the staff needed to guard the prisoners.
But it would only pay for the final three months of the fiscal year.
"That's about a quarter of our normal operating budget of the Stockton facility," Miskell said.
The Department of Corrections isn't shunning the effort to reopen Stockton, but it only has details from the same three-page document that was released to the public.
"We saw that today, and we'll be working with a number of committees and people," Miskell said late Thursday. "There's a long way to go before any of this gets to a full compromise."
The proposal to reopen Stockton apparently stems from conversations DOC Secretary Roger Werholtz has had with legislative leaders about prison crowding.
"That issue is something we think needs to be addressed," he said.
And while Miskell said the prison system will continue to locate beds in correctional facilities to hold inmates, overcrowding causes prisons to "become more dangerous places for inmate populations and staff working there."
From the DOC's perspective, the need for additional beds is a matter of operations.
"It would be very beneficial," Miskell said of the prospect of Stockton reopening.