Sears: State can't afford corrections Questions jump in budget
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By DARREN M. ALLEN Vermont Press Bureau - Published: January 19, 2005
MONTPELIER — To the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the question was quite clear: Why, in a period of declining crime, is it costing so much to house and supervise Vermont's convicted criminals?
"Dollars and cents-wise, we can't afford the system we have now," Sen. Richard Sears, D-Bennington, told his committee Tuesday as Corrections Commissioner Steve Gold testified about his department's budget tripling in little more than a decade.
"That's scary. And we know the crime rate has improved," Sears added.
So have the number of inmates in Vermont's corrections system, Gold testified. The department's budget in fiscal year 1994 was about $36.4 million — and the number of inmates, pre-trial detainees and people on parole and probation totaled about 7,500 people. In the current fiscal year, which ends on June 30, the department is slated to spend almost $100 million, a figure that is expected to be eclipsed by the corrections budget the governor will announce today.
Currently, Vermont has almost 14,400 people either in prison or under the department's supervision.
The department's expanding budget and caseload has lawmakers worried about how the state can continue to pay for it all.
Sears and others on the committee wondered whether the heightened numbers of people detained while awaiting trial, the increased emphasis on drug crimes and the imposition of stiffer penalties was putting too much pressure on an overburdened system.
"We've got this explosion of prisoners and individuals under corrections' jurisdiction," said Sen. Edward Flanagan, D-Burlington. "And that has led to an explosion of costs which is unsustainable."
Lawmakers are searching for ways to get a handle on the department's costs, and Sears has made crafting a solution a top priority for his committee this year.
The governor, Gold said, is interested in shifting the way some drug offenders are treated, with an emphasis on rehabilitation over incarceration.
He also will propose an increase in transitional housing, a move that could help reduce the number of prisoners who have served minimum sentences but are unable to leave because they have nowhere to live.
"I don't think there's any single remedy," Gold said.
Contact Darren Allen at darren.allen@rutlandherald.com.
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