Published: November 13, 2009 05:03 pm      

Past time to act — 11/15/09

General Assembly needs to get serious about the prison issue

There is little that is new in the “Cost of Incarcerating Adult Felons” written by the Kentucky General Assembly’s staff for the Program Review and Investigations Committee. The only question is whether legislators will use this report to continue to bemoan the soaring costs of the state’s prisons while actually doing little or nothing at attack the problem.

Or will this latest of many reports on prison costs lead to a complete review of Kentucky’s criminal code that will restore more reason and fairness and actually reduce the state’s prison population without endangering public safety.

While many legislators recognize the need to reduce the state’s prison population, they fear that any changes in the status quo will paint them in the public’s eye as being soft on crime.

The new study found that the average number of state inmates increased 42 percent from fiscal year 2000 to FY 2009 and the annual cost of incarcerating them rose 53 percent during that period.

Rep. Ken Upchurch, R-Monticello, called those number “fairly astonishing” and added that if the trend continues at its current rate, “We’re looking at close to a billion dollars to house inmates in 10 years and that’s pretty spooky.”

Spooky and unaffordable.

So what can be done? The new report is hardly the first to suggest that changes in the state’s persistent felony offender (PFO) law has been a major factor in the rising prison population.

Robert Lawson, a University of Kentucky law professor, is among many who have called on lawmakers to revise the persistent felony offender laws. Originally adopted in the mid-1970s the PFO laws were initially designed for offenders who had been imprisoned and then committed subsequent felonies after their release. At first, judges or juries had to formally convict a repeat offender as a PFO, but the law has since been changed to make it automatic that those convicted repeatedly of felonies be declared PFOs and received a minimum sentence of 10 years.

The number of offenses that can trigger the PFO law have been increased. Many PFOs are addicts who have been convicted a repeat drug-related offenses. Some contend they need treatment instead of long sentences.

Get-tough-on-crime prosecutors like Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Ray Larson and Warren Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron contend PFO laws make the public safer by locking up dangerous criminals. They have vigorously opposed efforts to reduce the state’s prison population while offering few suggestions on how to pay for their incarceration.

This issue is running the risk of being talked to death. It is past time for legislators to actually do something to solve what all agree is both a serious funding problem and a criminal justice problem.