Shuffling of inmates interrupting therapy

In the aftermath of a series of escapes, the Utah Department of Corrections is trying to figure out how to provide therapy and other programs to inmates shuffled between state prisons and county jails.

"The first thing was to ensure the public safety and making sure we minimized the level of violent offenders in county jails," corrections chief Tom Patterson told the Deseret Morning News Tuesday. "Phase 2 is the fallout from Phase 1."

In September, convicted killers Danny Gallegos and Juan Diaz-Arevalo escaped from the Daggett County Jail. The two were captured six days later in Wyoming. In late October, convicted rapist Joshua Whallon escaped from the Beaver County Jail before being captured several hours later.

Those escapes prompted Patterson to yank 307 first-degree felons and violent offenders from the county jails and return them to the state prisons in Draper and Gunnison. Only 282 lesser-risk inmates have been placed in county jails.

The shuffling of inmates has left some court-ordered programming, therapy and rehabilitation up in the air. Particularly, corrections staff said substance abuse, sex offender treatment and education courses have been affected.

More than 110 inmates were moved from substance abuse therapy programs at the state prisons to be placed in county jails. Therapists are now trying to figure out which ones are almost finished with their treatment, and who will need to come back to prison to finish their therapy. As many as 54 inmates also were interrupted in their efforts to complete school educations and may not be able to resume until January 2008.

Patterson is unapologetic about that.

"I don't want to minimize the concern that has been to inmates, but it is secondary to public safety and always will be," he said.

He said one way of getting more inmates back into the prisons to complete their programming may be to "warehouse" illegal immigrant inmates in county jails while they serve time for other crimes, freeing up bed space at Draper and Gunnison.

Patterson also is looking to expand programming options within the county jails.

"We have to get inmates that are in the county jails those programming opportunities," he said.