Prison problems

With more than twice as many inmates occupying Randolph County jail as the facility was designed to hold, something needs to happen to relieve the pressure. That something is not in the hands of local and county officials, though, but in the hands of those representing us in Montgomery.

Here’s why.

First, the Legislature has taken no steps to make the changes to the Alabama Constitution that are needed to allow county officials to raise the funding necessary for an adequate facility. That power lies in the hands of the Legislature, and then, if the Legislature is willing to put the issue to a vote, voters statewide must give their approval. “Home rule” doesn’t exist in Alabama, and county officials are powerless to raise local taxes to provide for the public’s safety.

Second, a large part of the overcrowding in Randolph County Jail is due to overflow from the inadequate state prisons. They too are filled to more than twice their capacity, and when further doubling up and tripling up is not possible, the state Department of Corrections sends its prisoners to already overcrowded county jails throughout the state. And pays the counties a whopping $1.75 a day to house each state prisoner. From that the county is expected to provide meals, medical care and additional jail staffing needed.

During an election year the problem only grows worse. An example was last week’s passage of a bill increasing prison terms for sex offenders. Like the “three strikes and you’re out” bills previously, this bill is politically popular but totally irresponsible, since the Legislature did not take the politically unpopular step of finding funds to pay for a place to house these offenders. Tough on crime; cowardly on appropriations.

When all this comes to a head, namely when federal courts get involved to force state lawmakers to do what they have been afraid to do on their own, we are looking at another wholesale release of inmates like we had the last time the federal courts acted. That’s no way to run corrections and no way to run a government.