A dozen inmates to go free

Overcrowding in the women's section of the Utah State Prison is forcing the early release of at least a dozen female offenders.

"We are in a crisis at the women's prison," Mike Sibbett, chairman of Utah's Board of Pardons and Parole, has informed lawmakers. "We are flat out of beds."

The board, along with the Utah Department of Corrections, has begun the process of selecting those prisoners who are fit for early release, Sibbett said in a letter to House and Senate leadership distributed on Capitol Hill Thursday. He also raised the issue Wednesday with the sub-appropriations committee that handles the state's criminal justice budgets.

Those eligible for early release will be nonviolent, non-sex offenders who have no record of discipline problems in prison and who have already been awarded parole dates by the board.

The prison has been at or above its 401-maximum-bed capacity for more than 156 days, according to DOC data. By law, anytime the prison exceeds its maximum bed capacity the Board of Pardons is required to begin the early release program, DOC executive director Mike Chabries said.

As of Jan. 29, there were 424 incarcerated women. Most are housed in the Timpanogos facility at Point of the Mountain, although some are in contract beds at various county jails.

Since the DOC hit its maximum capacity housing in October, the prison has shifted additional women to county jails, housed some inmates in the prison infirmary and double-bunked cells that are designed for single occupancy, said Chris Mitchell, DOC's director of program services.

Prison officials expected a net gain of 37 female inmates this year, but new commitments spiked in October and have not dropped, Sibbett said. If that trend continues, the net increase could be as many as 54 female inmates.

The board is looking to release about 15 women between now and July 1, Sibbett said.

"The board is at the tail end of the system, and we are referred to from time to time as the pressure-relief valve," Sibbett told the committee. "Frankly, we are tired of making some of these decisions with that pressure and wonder if we are making the right decision at the right time."

"What he's saying is that he's not sure he's not compromising community safety," said Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan.