No Room for More Inmates

A new report from the Bureau of Justice shows new 48,000 inmates went into prison systems across the country last year. That`s up 2.3% from the year before. Arkansas` prisons are already overcrowded, so the influx of new inmates is not a welcome change. Last year, the Department of Correction got 7,500 new inmates. They released 7,000. That means the prison system had to find room for 500 new inmates in the already full prisons. Most of those inmates are still in county jails waiting for a bed to open up in a state prison. The Pulaski County Jail is holding more than 150 inmates who are supposed to be in prison, but aren`t because of the lack of space. Jailers say that puts a strain on the county because they don`t have those beds to use for local inmates. They are using an early release program for non-violent offenders to try to manage the jail population. Both county and state corrections officers say building more beds is not the answer to the problem. They say something needs to be done to keep people out of the judicial system in the first place. Many are hoping community based rehabilitation programs will help control the growing jail and prison populations.