Lawmakers told state prisons lag in spending

Lawmakers were told Tuesday that Nevada prisons are ranked 50th nationally in spending on food, clothing and health care for inmates, the prison population has doubled since 1990 - and the state ranks 45th in its use of probation.

In 2002, the last year with available statistics, the state spent $2.20 a day per inmate - or 1.3 percent of its budget - on food, the lowest in the nation. Medical care amounted to about 5 percent of the budget, less than half the national average. The state spent about $30 a year per inmate on clothing.

"I don't know about you but I couldn't buy too many pairs of Levis and underwear or tennis shoes with $30 a year, but that's what we do," Dorothy Nash Holmes, programs administrator for the state Department of Corrections, told the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

In its first meeting of the 2005 session, the committee was walked through the criminal justice system from courts to prisons, and given a rundown of legal issues that will arise this session.

In her testimony, Department of Corrections Director Jackie Crawford said her department is improving its facilities, education and vocational programs, and rehabilitation plans on little money. She noted the state spends about $17,700 per inmate each year. The national average is $22,673.

Prison officials presented other notable statistics: Forty-five percent of prisoners in Nevada function below the 8th grade level, 58 percent don't have a GED or high school diploma, and 65 percent have no job training or work skills.

The total prison population is more than 11,000, a 102 percent increase since 1990. Corrections administrator Fritz Schlottman told lawmakers that if growth continues at the current rate the state will have to build one new prison every two years.

Officials also noted that the state has more prisoners in higher security, more expensive facilities than the national average.

Some 54 percent of prisoners in the state are in a medium security facilities, while 40 percent is the national average.

Holmes said the state's strict sentencing laws could partially explain why so many prisoners were under medium security. Lawmakers have said they want to increase use of house arrest, probation and other alternatives to incarceration this session.