Utahns support prison expansion and programs to rehab prisoners

Prison officials estimate 80 percent to 85 percent of state state's 5,600 inmates have drug problems. About 30 percent of inmates have committed sex crimes, an unprecedented high.

Patterson said more treatment dollars would equate to earlier releases. And sex offenders without treatment tend to spend longer in prison than those who commit other crimes.

Prison drug treatment programs did not fare as well in the budget, though prison ward Steve Turley said it has been proven that money directed to structured drug treatment is well-spent — every dollar spent on the prison's intensive Conquest program saves the taxpayer $7.

Utahns also disapprove of state corrections shipping inmates to county jails to serve their prison sentences.

The Jones poll shows 49 percent of residents somewhat or definitely disapprove of the practice that dates back 20 years to relieve crowded cell blocks. According to the survey, 40 percent of Utahns approve.

The uneasiness about relocating state inmates likely arises from escapes this fall from two county jails.

In September, convicted murderers Danny Gallegos and Juan Diaz-Arevalo slipped out of an unlocked door and over a razor-wire fence in Daggett County. They were apprehended six days later. In October, a convicted rapist and kidnapper went over the fence in Beaver County before being captured seven hours later.

The Corrections Department spends about $30 million a year on contracts with jails in 21 counties for space to house more than 1,500 prisoners. It pulled most first-degree felons back to prison in response to the escapes. The department implemented new policies and procedures after evaluating the jails.

---

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com; lucy@desnews.com