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Posted by: PBC FL Cop

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Jail money is held up

Master study of prisons set

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jmonahan@telegram.com

BOSTON— Worcester County Sheriff Guy W. Glodis’ requests for up to $100 million in state funds to enlarge the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction to ease serious crowding has been put off by the Patrick administration, which yesterday outlined a five-year capital plan with no new jail expansion funds in the coming year.

Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray at a press conference at the Statehouse detailing the $12 billion spending plan, said proposals for new jail expansions would be postponed until the state completes a $500,000 master-plan study of statewide prison needs.

The spending plan calls for allocation of $500,000 in state bond funds to begin work this year on the study, which would be used to guide future investment in state and county prisons. Besides examining the physical condition of correction facilities, the study also would focus on “broader policy considerations concerning sentencing and classification,” according to the plan.

The decisions over capital spending on prisons comes at a time when the state’s highest-ranking officials, including the governor, House speaker and Senate president, have all said they want to revise some of the state’s mandatory minimum drug sentencing laws that have contributed to longer sentences and higher inmate populations.

Jeffrey R. Turco, deputy superintendent of the Worcester County Jail and House of Correction, said the county jail is too crowded to delay action and he criticized the decision.

“It’s utterly disheartening. It reflects a lack of understanding of the critical state of public safety in Worcester County with respect to overcrowding,” Mr. Turco said. “To spend $500,000 on a study to ultimately come back and tell the commonwealth that we have overcrowded jails, seems to be a waste of precious tax dollars,” he said.

Mr. Turco said county sheriffs that operate prisons around the state have been at the forefront in introducing inmate re-entry programs and other efforts to reduce recidivism, but they are hindered in further developing those kinds of programs by severe overcrowding.

“It’s always good to look for a long-term plan, but you can’t use that as an excuse not to address immediate needs,” Mr. Turco said.

The Worcester County Jail, with a population of 1,500 men, yesterday was operating at 195 percent of its design capacity, officials said.

Mr. Murray, however, defended the approach of looking at all state prison and county jail needs in a comprehensive fashion. He said the state may find efficiencies to be gained looking at the two jail systems together. “We want to make sure we have a coherent road map going forward,” he said.

Secretary of Administration and Finance Leslie A. Kirwan said the administration is concerned about a lack of coordination in state correction facilities planning, with many different initiatives under way at different levels of the system — from plans for regional lockups by some county sheriffs to innovative re-entry programs for those inmates released to communities.

“There are a lot of different ideas for facilities to support different correctional approaches,” she said. “We think before we continue to invest in a patchwork, it is wise to step back to a master planning process involving all the parties to decide the next set of high priorities for corrections.”

The five-year spending plan will serve as a basis for separate bills for economic development, transportation, environment, housing and education capital projects expected to be filed with the state Legislature in September.

It provides for several projects of interest to Central Massachusetts including the first year spending of $30 million toward a new state psychiatric hospital in Worcester to replace the existing Worcester State Hospital and Westboro State Hospital.

It also calls for $10 million to be spent in this fiscal year to develop a 10-year $500 million life sciences initiative aimed at creating both an RNA interference, or RNAi, research center to build on the genetic science breakthrough by UMass Medical School professor Dr. Craig C. Mello, and to create the world’s largest stem-cell research bank at UMass Medical School in Worcester.

The five-year plan calls for $5.7 billion for transportation, $631 million for economic development, $834 million for housing, $1.3 billion in community investments, $776 million for higher education, $655 million for energy and environment, $142 million for corrections, $514 million for hospitals and human services, $199 million for state buildings and facilities, and $392 million for courts.

I thought the ex-Senator had some clout in Boston

Does anyone smell a Sheriff-DOC merger in the future??

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Posted by: SinePari

Quote:

Originally Posted by PBC FL Cop I thought the ex-Senator had some clout in Boston Does anyone smell a Sheriff-DOC merger in the future??

Pay me the $500K and I'll tell them it's too crowded AND to merge the 2 financially competitive agencies.

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