Thursday, Nov 15, 2007

FREDERICKSBURG -- Virginia could be forced to build one prison every year to keep up with its growing prison population, the House Appropriations Committee was told yesterday.

But the pressure could be eased by changing the sentencing terms of technical parole violators, said Paul Van Lenten Jr., a budget analyst for the committee. A technical parole violator is someone who has not been convicted of a new crime but has broken the terms of his parole, frequently by failing a drug or alcohol test.

Between 2002 and 2006, the number of technical parole violators grew 41 percent, Van Lenten told the committee.

The House Appropriations Committee completed a two-day retreat yesterday at the Holiday Inn Select Hotel and Conference Center in Fredericksburg.

About 25 legislators attended yesterday's meeting.

Van Lenten said lighter sentences for a violation, and diversion programs that allow offenders to work and pay for a part of their upkeep, could eliminate the need for about 900 beds.

Another option would be constructing a dormitory-style correctional facility for technical parole violators, he said. This would be cheaper to construct and cheaper to operate than a typical prison because fewer security officers would be needed, he said.

There is a political problem with the lighter sentences, said Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax, chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee.

A lot of judges are giving short sentences with longer parole, he said. If the terms of the parole are violated and the parolees still get a light prison sentence, it would look like "we are soft on crime," Albo said. Members of the courts committee need to be shown that the alternative would be building more prisons at a great cost to the state, he said.

The committee also reviewed the status of the state's mental-health system.

Budget analyst Susan E. Massart said state funding for community-health services has more than doubled in the past 10 years. However, much of the increase has been targeted toward people with serious mental illnesses, she said.

The state's 40 community service boards are serving more individuals with mental illness but not in proportion to the increased funding for services, she said.

Dr. James Reinhard, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said the risk of people with mental illness becoming violent is about the same as the risk in the general population.

The risk of violence is greater among the mentally ill than in the general population if substance abuse is involved, he said.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news/state.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-11-15-0158.html