KINGMAN - According to a recent report, Arizona will have the second fastest prison population growth in the nation over the next five years.
The Public Safety, Public Spending: Forecasting America's Prison Population 2007-2011 report released by the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts projects more than 1.7 million men and women will be in prison nationwide by 2011.
Arizona's prison population is projected to grow more than 30 percent in that time period.
The Arizona Department of Corrections has already submitted a request for 3,000 new prison beds.
The Management & Training Corporation of Centerville, Utah, which runs a state prison located 19 miles southwest of Kingman, is competing against two other private companies and the state for the bid.
The report attributes the influx of residents in Arizona as one factor in the projected increase.
The report calls for adjustments in Arizona's sentencing practices, such as reducing the 85-percent required jail time on sentences, to combat the dramatic increase. It also calls for programs for inmates in custody to help reduce recidivism.
"Innovative governors and legislators across the country are exploring policies, programs and technologies they believe will save their states money and reduce recidivism," said Adam Gelb, project director of the Public Safety Performance Project.
MTC's current facility focuses on an intensive residential treatment program for the inmates to help combat recidivism. The prison offers adult basic education, computer literacy, general education development, life skills, shaken baby and parenting skills, substance abuse education and treatment, and 10-minute cognitive skills modules rehabilitation programs.
The current and projected inmate growth isn't just affecting the state prisons. Mohave County's jail facilities are bursting at the seams.
The 20-year-old jail in Kingman is surpassing its capabilities, according to Mohave County Sheriff Tom Sheahan. Every month 800-900 more people are booked into jail and roughly 30 are transferred to state prison.
The Sheriff's Office has submitted a request for a new jail to be located behind the new county administrative building in Kingman funded by the same quarter-of-a-cent sales tax used to build the county and sheriff's office administrative buildings.
Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, May 24, 2009
Article comment by:
No name provided
Get over it! That'll teach you to behave yourself and stay out of jail!
Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2008
Article comment by:
Don Jaccaud
Needed to contact someone about an employee of the Kingman Prison who broke into my storage unit a few years ago and robbed me blind and I can't let it go. They need to be punished for their crime.
