PRISONS CHIEF URGES REFORM OF SENTENCING

Finding an alternative way to sentence nonviolent criminals would have the
largest and safest impact on reducing the growing state prison population,
according to Jon Ozmint, director of the state Department of Corrections.
Ozmint The state's prisons are at their capacity of 23,500 inmates and have
grown 5 percent - a rate of 1,200 prisoners a year, Ozmint said. Meanwhile,
budgets have been cut $72 million in the last three years.

Ozmint said the best way to reduce the population is to target the 48
percent of the state's inmates who are in for nonviolent offenses and have
no record of committing a violent crime by giving judges an alternative
sentence to consider.

He said the state needs to find better ways to use "expensive bed space,
and we need to do it in the safest manner possible. I think the safest
manner possible is to look at the nonviolent offenders."

Many blame the statewide and national population increase on mandatory
minimum sentencing laws.

Several cash-strapped states across the country have made changes to reduce
the number of offenders eligible for mandatory minimums, said Ryan King,
research associate for the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization
that promotes alternatives to prison.

"Longer sentences are the primary engine of growth in the state prison
population," King said. "That's something we need to address in the future
if we're really concerned about reducing the prison size."

Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Richland, agreed that changes need to be made.

"The truth is there's a very large number of people in our prisons there
for bad checks, failure to pay child support and simple possession of
drugs," he said. "And all of those inmates are not paying taxes. They could
be on a work program with a bracelet on their ankle."

Cotty said there's a political problem that needs to be addressed on a
bipartisan level.

"Politically, no one wants to step up and say, 'Don't send these people to
prison,'" Cotty said. "That sounds like you're soft on crime. It will take
political leadership to say, 'Wait a minute, maybe we need a little bit of
flexibility.'"

House Speaker David Wilkins said the state's primary obligation is to keep
violent criminals in prison, even if it means building more prisons. He
said he agrees to look at options for nonviolent criminals.

"There's many of us who agree with Jon Ozmint on that, and he agrees with
us," he said. "You lock the violent criminals up and you find alternative
ways (to punish) your nonviolent offenders."

Wilkins, however, said no one has proven to him that mandatory minimum
sentences have increased the prison population.

Ozmint said mandatory minimum sentences create a management control
problem. "You can't offer inmates incentives for good behavior," he said.
"Society not only works with sticks but with carrots. If a guy goes to
class or shows up for work every day we should be able to award him."

Thirteenth Circuit Solicitor Bob Ariail said he believes the concept of
mandatory minimum sentences works the way it was intended: keeping violent
offenders off the streets longer.

Ariail said he generally supports the idea of alternative sentencing for
nonviolent criminals. "As they say, however, the devil is in the details,"
he said. "You have to get their attention."

Ozmint said he is working with Gov. Mark Sanford's office on a possible
proposal for alternative sentencing but declined to give details. He said
it should be a system in which everyone involved - victims, judges,
attorneys - would have input whether the offender is eligible.

"I think that offers the safest potential for looking on the front-end at
the possibility of having alternative sentences for them as opposed to
putting them in prison," Ozmint said. "Maybe give them a taste of prison
and then allowing them, on the back end, to have the opportunity to get out
and be on electronic monitoring."

Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland County, is working on legislation that would
include mandatory drug treatment for nonviolent drug offenders that is
expected to be considered next year.

He has said the state can't afford to spend millions of dollars on
incarceration and that the state would see a substantial savings on
treatment. Neal's plan is similar to one passed in California.

Local law enforcement leaders said they support the drug court that
Ariail's office runs in Greenville County. The program is designed for
habitual drug offenders with no history of violent crime.