DRUG OFFENDERS LEAD THE PACK AS PRISONS SWELL

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida's sudden upsurge in inmates imprisoned on drug-
related charges comes after two years of state budget cuts that have
dramatically reduced treatment dollars for drug offenders behind bars.

Experts say that may have contributed to the need for state lawmakers
to dip into reserve funds last week and approve $66 million in
emergency funding to build about 4,000 new prison beds.

With Florida's serious-crime rate at its lowest point in 30 years,
this summer's sharp increase in prison admissions caught state leaders
by surprise.

"I think it's probably going to wind up being a combination of several
things," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has steered tougher sentencing laws
through a willing Republican Legislature since taking office in 1999.

"It's a significant investment," Bush said of the additional prison
funding. "But if we need to build prisons in order to make sure public
safety is first and foremost, we'll do that."

Although those convicted of drug-related crimes account for the single
largest group of offenders in Florida's more than 77,000-inmate prison
system, lawmakers began slashing state dollars for prisoner substance-
abuse treatment in late 2001.

After the economic slump stemming from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
lawmakers helped balance the state budget by cutting in half the $15.5
million then spent on prison treatment services.

Last year, that fell to $5.8 million, about a third of the earlier
level. This year, lawmakers have earmarked $7.7 million for inmate
drug treatment in a system where more than one in four offenders is
incarcerated for drug crimes.

"What we're seeing nationwide, Florida included, are inmates being
released who have been in very rough prison conditions," said Tom
Blomberg, acting dean of the Florida State University School of
Criminology. "Once they get out, they are ill-prepared for today's
society."

This past spring, state analysts started to notice a growing
admissions rate for Florida prisons. By June, the Department of
Corrections took in 2,823 inmates, the highest monthly admission total
in more than a decade.

The largest increase occurred among those convicted of drug offenses.
And five counties -- Volusia, Polk, Hillsborough, Escambia and Leon --
accounted for 52 percent of the unexpected increase. No statewide
breakdown of prisoners' offenses was available.

Most drug offenders in the prison system are repeat offenders,
officials said. And with state analysts finding a slight rise in the
number of inmates receiving short sentences of a year to 15 months,
experts say drug offenders may be returning more quickly to the system.

"The rise in prison admissions that's happening in Florida certainly
seems to be bucking national trends," said Ryan King, a research
associate with The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit
criminal-justice policy group.

Last month, the state's Criminal Justice Estimating Conference revised
its annual forecast to increase the end-of-year prison population to
more than 81,000.

But even once the group's revamped forecast was complete, July
admissions rose to 2,899 inmates -- topping even June's decade-high
surge.

Analysts are expected to meet next month and could again revise the
forecast, officials said.

Corrections officials have said the 4,000 new beds, which effectively
doubled the number of new beds included in the state budget that took
effect last month, will be enough to meet the now-forecasted rise.

But dramatic increases could bring prison officials back to lawmakers
for more money, making corrections costs an added burden in an already
lean budget year.

"Forty million dollars would've covered the cuts that we had to impose
on our university system this year," said state Senate Minority Leader
Ron Klein, D-Delray Beach. "What about money for public schools, the
Department of Children & Families? The reality is, we've got to take
care of other priorities in this state."

Other possible causes for the rise are stricter sentences handed down
by a new generation of conservative state court judges appointed by
Bush.

Also, counties may be looking to shift costs by sentencing offenders
to terms that exceed one year, getting inmates out of county jails and
into state prisons. Florida drug czar Jim McDonough, a Bush appointee,
also said some inmates convicted of drug offenses plea-bargain down
from more-serious crimes.

"It's not overly harsh drug laws that are filling up our prisons,"
McDonough said. "It's people committing serious crimes."

Bush has asked Corrections Secretary James Crosby for a report in
coming weeks that may help shed light on the numbers. For now, even in
counties where admissions have climbed, officials are at a loss.

"Nothing has changed in the philosophy of prosecution," said Linda
Pruitt, a spokesman for State Attorney John Tanner of Volusia County.
His county sent 23 percent more inmates to Florida prisons this year
than a year earlier -- from 904 to 1,111.

Hillsborough County State Attorney Mark Ober, whose office has seen
state inmate admissions for cocaine possession more than double in the
past year, downplayed the effect of state budget cuts on drug treatment.

"The primary purpose of the prison system is not to treat but punish,"
Ober said. "Counties have drug courts that help steer people into
treatment. But if they don't comply with the laws, sometimes they end
up in prison."