By Drew Volturo,
Delaware State News
DOVER - Delaware prisons, already operating beyond capacity, need $368 million in expansions and upgrades, Commissioner of Corrections Carl C. Danberg told the Joint Bond Bill Committee Wednesday.
The six-year plan calls for adding more than 950 beds to Sussex Correctional Institution near Georgetown, Baylor Women's Correctional Institution near New Castle and Howard R. Young Correctional Institution and Plummer House Facility in Wilmington.
"If our prison population continues to grow at 250 beds a year, we could find ourselves in significant trouble before it's resolved," Mr. Danberg said.
The state's prison population totaled 7,154 inmates Wednesday, he said, 7 percent above the department's 6,687-bed capacity.
Delaying construction, Mr. Danberg said, would lead to construction cost increases of 5.5 percent per year.
The proposed construction plan, which would run through fiscal 2013, was outlined in a $500,000 study the Bond Bill Committee commissioned last year and has not been incorporated into the capital spending plan.
But with the state strapped for cash, Sen. John C. Still III, R-Dover, expressed skepticism about the capital budget shouldering the cost of the projects.
"Show me the money," said Sen. Still, noting that there is nearly $100 million in school referendums also not included in the $554.8 million bond bill.
"I think we don't have a choice but to look at privatizing prisons. If we can't do this in the capital budget, we need to go to privatization and then lease (the facilities) through the operating budget.
"The operating budget has 21 different revenue streams and could handle that cost easier ... we need options and we need them now."
Mr. Danberg said afterward that DOC has studied privatizing prisons before and determined that the practice did not provide significant savings and added a layer of bureaucracy rather than making things more efficient.
Although the study suggests allocating $6 million in fiscal 2008, Mr. Danberg said the projects could be delayed a year to allow time to research whether prison medical facilities could be consolidated into one central building.
Satellite facilities throughout the state would act as clinics, he said. Such a study would cost $300,000 to $500,000.
Mr. Danberg said DOC has sufficient space at SCI and Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna to build a central hospital, but he does not know whether there is enough medical staff in either area to support the facility.
"It is unwise to spend taxpayers' money to upgrade medical facilities at SCI and (HRYCI) when we might be able to consolidate," he said.
The discussions surrounding medical facilities does not include the state's agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which orders the state to completely renovate its prison health care system in light of "substantial civil rights violations" found during an investigation last year.
Delay possible
While the need is critical, Mr. Danberg said there are means to accommodate the projected growth.
"We have only 320 ankle bracelets in the state," he said. "We should have at least double that.
"I believe there are 300 people in our system who could under current law be released from prison and fitted with a bracelet. That would be an entire year's worth of growth."
Another way to reduce the prison population would be to increase beds for the work release program, where Mr. Danberg said there is a five-month waiting list.
"I don't believe it's fiscally responsible to the taxpayers ... before we spend $368 million of taxpayers' money, we owe it to them to look for any way to be more efficient with their money," Mr. Danberg said.
Sen. Still said the proposals only delay the problems in the prison system for a year.
"It's kind of like taking Advil for a brain tumor," Sen. Still said.
Rep. Gregory F. Lavelle, R-Wilmington, said legislators have plenty of pricey requests to balance against the
"Every other agency is screaming for money," Rep. Lavelle said. "The federal government already has come to us once saying 'you shall do this,' so we have to manage things properly. We can't let them make our decisions for us.
"This should be a huge awareness for next year. It's putting us on notice."
Rep. Lavelle noted that while the first year of construction is projected to cost $6 million, the amount skyrockets to $77.1 million, $85.7 million and $147.9 million in the next three years.
Staff writer Drew Volturo can be reached at 741-8296 or dvolturo@newszap.com
