Published: January 23, 2008 04:00 pm         

Woman to lead state prison system

Beshear may address prison over crowding next week

FRANKFORT, Ky. — At a time when inmate populations are exploding, county jails are breaking county budgets, and a new sheriff is in town in the state capitol, a woman will head up the state Department of Corrections.



Commissioner John Rees will retire as DOC Commissioner on Jan. 31. Wednesday afternoon, new Gov. Steve Beshear announced Rees will be succeeded by LaDonna Thompson.



Thompson, 45, has served the past two and a half years as Rees’ Deputy Commissioner and has worked in corrections for 18 years. The Morehead State University graduate is the first female commissioner in Kentucky history.



Wednesday, J. Michael Brown, Justice and Public Safety Secretary, said the state faces “critical corrections issues,” in the commonwealth. Those critical issues include a rapidly rising population of inmates – currently around 22,400 with about 8,000 of those housed in county jails which the state pays a per diem rate for each prisoner. He said his goal was not to break a gender barrier, but choosing Thompson was a fortuitous outcome. He said he is confident in her ability to run the department.



Thompson said she wants to take a “little time to settle into the office,” and wants to take a look at current issues in light of the state’s budget problems.



“I really appreciate the confidence the governor has shown in me,” Thompson said. “I think I’m prepared to take it on and I’m excited about the work.”



Thompson said current inmate projects indicate a growth in total population of about 600 inmates over the next two years, bringing the total to 24,000. But the state added nearly 1,800 inmates in the first 10 months of 2007 alone. DOC spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said, however, the 600 projection is based on historical trends and such projections can fluctuate from year to year.



DOC has requested funding for more prison space and construction, but like other government agencies and departments isn’t likely to fare well in a two-year budget which Beshear has termed a crisis. He’s asked government agencies and departments to find up to 12 percent in cuts from current spending in a “worst-case” scenario.



Essentially, the lack of prison space is the reason nearly 8,000 inmates are housed in county jails, and that has led to overcrowding there as well. Some lawmakers and experts such as University of Kentucky Law Professor Robert Lawson (who largely wrote the state’s penal code) think the problem is the result of lawmakers “getting tough on crime” and increasing penalties and offenses. Even conservative lawmakers have begun calling for alternatives to imprisonment, including secure, residential drug treatment programs.



Beshear said he and Brown have begun giving thought to overcrowding of state prisoners. But he offered no details.



“We are giving some thought, both Secretary Brown and I, and we will be having conversations with LaDonna also about some things that we might do to look into this whole area of the populations of our prisons,” Beshear said. “I think that by next week we will be discussing more particulars in that area with you.”



He said those proposals would offer more of a long-term approach rather than an immediate remedy. Thursday, his press spokeswoman, Vicki Glass, said she expects any such proposal to be contained in his budget proposal to the legislature on Jan. 29.



Rees was quoted in a recent CNHI News Service series on jail overcrowding that society now imprisons far more people than it should and that has led to prison overcrowding across the country. Before Wednesday’s press conference to announce his successor, Rees – who launched his career in corrections nearly 40 years ago – said when he began in 1969, “We sent people I was afraid of to jail. Now, we send a lot of people to jail I’m not really afraid of.”



Rees served four years as Kentucky’s Corrections Commissioner. He plans to return to private consulting work in the corrections field.



Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort, Ky. He may be contacted by email at rellis@cnhi.com.