Post by CC on Nov 17, 2009 16:35:54 GMT -5
TN could release 4,000 prisoners to cut costs
By tennessean.com
Published: 11/17/2009
Correction Commissioner George Little said the department would have no choice but to recommend early release of inmates if it were to implement the budget cuts called for by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The department has already squeezed out savings by scaling back on roadside litter-removal crews and leaving about 400 positions unfilled, and it is relying heavily on federal stimulus funding in its current budget, he said.
"This isn't scare tactics," he said. "We've got to make ends meet. … We would not propose these sorts of very serious and weighty options if we were not in such dire circumstances."
The early-release plan, which Little laid out on the first day of state budget hearings, is meant to show how the Department of Correction would proceed if Bredesen were to go ahead with a cut of up to 9 percent from all state department budgets.
By tennessean.com
Published: 11/17/2009
Correction Commissioner George Little said the department would have no choice but to recommend early release of inmates if it were to implement the budget cuts called for by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The department has already squeezed out savings by scaling back on roadside litter-removal crews and leaving about 400 positions unfilled, and it is relying heavily on federal stimulus funding in its current budget, he said.
"This isn't scare tactics," he said. "We've got to make ends meet. … We would not propose these sorts of very serious and weighty options if we were not in such dire circumstances."
The early-release plan, which Little laid out on the first day of state budget hearings, is meant to show how the Department of Correction would proceed if Bredesen were to go ahead with a cut of up to 9 percent from all state department budgets.