Prison population increase small
Posted: Thursday, January 10, 2008
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The inmate population in South Dakota is rising slowly after increasing substantially in past years, and that has helped ease pressure on the state Corrections Department budget, legislators were told Wednesday.
Tim Reisch, state corrections secretary, said his department's $105.8 million budget request for the coming fiscal year is an increase of $2.65 million in general funds, or less than half of the requested increase in 2007.
"We've experienced some leveling off of our population," he told the Joint Appropriations Committee.
Legislators were told that prison officials expect an average daily head count of 3,583 adult inmates next year, or 96 more than this year.
Doug Weber, State Penitentiary warden, said that's a significant improvement from the escalating inmate trend over much of the past two decades.
The daily inmate count averaged 2,119 in 1997.
Weber said the State Penitentiary, although in use since 1882, is in sound condition and can be used for many more years.
"It's a fine, old prison," he said.
The Penitentiary was once overcrowded, but many inmates were moved to the prison at Springfield, where minimum- and medium-security inmates are housed, Weber said.
One legislator noted that the last time he visited the prison in Bon Homme County, it was very hot in a barracks that did not have air conditioning, but Weber said large fans have since been installed to cool the building.
Committee members indicated that they had no desire to spend the money it would take to air-condition the building, nor did the warden request it.
"It is a prison, not a penthouse," quipped Sen. Jerry Apa, R-Lead.
Weber said maximum-security buildings at the Penitentiary complex in Sioux Falls can adequately handle the influx of those prisoners. Although there is no more land on the site to add another building, the most recently constructed building was designed so that two stories can be added, if needed, he said.
Weber said many inmates work inside state prisons, including some who have jobs with private firms and are paid by those firms. Other inmates who do prison jobs, such as making license plates, garments and restoring furniture, get 25 cents an hour, he said.
Apa, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, wondered if it's time to boost that wage, which hasn't changed for six years. Items that prisoners buy from the commissary, such as snacks, toiletries, electronics and other items, must cost more now than they did several years ago, he said.
Weber said prison officials have done their best to choose companies that offer good prices on commissary items, and he said most prisoners also get money from their families.
It would cost the state $600,000 to increase the pay of inmates to 50 cents an hour, the warden added.
Weber said inmates may have only $35 in their commissary accounts. Wages beyond that amount go into inmates' savings accounts so they have some money when they are released, he said. Those accounts are capped at $250.
Inmates' wages also are used for such things as restitution to victims, child support payments and other obligations, Weber said. State prison inmates paid nearly $800,000 toward those obligations in fiscal year 2006.
Tim Reisch, state corrections secretary, said his department's $105.8 million budget request for the coming fiscal year is an increase of $2.65 million in general funds, or less than half of the requested increase in 2007.
"We've experienced some leveling off of our population," he told the Joint Appropriations Committee.
Legislators were told that prison officials expect an average daily head count of 3,583 adult inmates next year, or 96 more than this year.
Doug Weber, State Penitentiary warden, said that's a significant improvement from the escalating inmate trend over much of the past two decades.
The daily inmate count averaged 2,119 in 1997.
Weber said the State Penitentiary, although in use since 1882, is in sound condition and can be used for many more years.
"It's a fine, old prison," he said.
The Penitentiary was once overcrowded, but many inmates were moved to the prison at Springfield, where minimum- and medium-security inmates are housed, Weber said.
One legislator noted that the last time he visited the prison in Bon Homme County, it was very hot in a barracks that did not have air conditioning, but Weber said large fans have since been installed to cool the building.
Committee members indicated that they had no desire to spend the money it would take to air-condition the building, nor did the warden request it.
"It is a prison, not a penthouse," quipped Sen. Jerry Apa, R-Lead.
Weber said maximum-security buildings at the Penitentiary complex in Sioux Falls can adequately handle the influx of those prisoners. Although there is no more land on the site to add another building, the most recently constructed building was designed so that two stories can be added, if needed, he said.
Weber said many inmates work inside state prisons, including some who have jobs with private firms and are paid by those firms. Other inmates who do prison jobs, such as making license plates, garments and restoring furniture, get 25 cents an hour, he said.
Apa, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, wondered if it's time to boost that wage, which hasn't changed for six years. Items that prisoners buy from the commissary, such as snacks, toiletries, electronics and other items, must cost more now than they did several years ago, he said.
Weber said prison officials have done their best to choose companies that offer good prices on commissary items, and he said most prisoners also get money from their families.
It would cost the state $600,000 to increase the pay of inmates to 50 cents an hour, the warden added.
Weber said inmates may have only $35 in their commissary accounts. Wages beyond that amount go into inmates' savings accounts so they have some money when they are released, he said. Those accounts are capped at $250.
Inmates' wages also are used for such things as restitution to victims, child support payments and other obligations, Weber said. State prison inmates paid nearly $800,000 toward those obligations in fiscal year 2006.
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