Kulongoski: Prison stays open

DOC officials proposed to close Powder River and two other minimum-security prisons, eliminating 232 jobs and releasing nearly 1,000 inmates, in response to Kulongoski’s call for agencies to submit plans to cut 9 percent from their budgets.

The governor made that request last month after state officials estimated Oregon’s budget shortfall at $577 million.

Out of 14 prisons statewide, the DOC chose to target the three smallest minimum-security facilities: Powder River, which opened in 1989, and the Mill Creek work camp and the Santiam Correctional Institution, both in Salem.

Powder River, which has a capacity of 286 inmates, houses 271 prisoners now, said Ron Miles, the prison’s public information officer.

Miles said that had Kulongoski approved the DOC plan, it’s not certain that every Powder River inmate would have been released by Sept. 15, as the agency proposed.

The staff of about 70 at Powder River earns a payroll of about $4.5 million per year. Miles said that figure doesn’t include the 40 people who work for New Directions Northwest, the company that oversees the award-winning drug and alcohol treatment program for Powder River inmates.

Under the DOC’s proposal, all of the staff faced the potential of being laid off or transferred to other facilities, depending on human resources rules, seniority or union contracts, Miles said.

He said some of the staff at New Directions recently moved to Baker City from other states, but most of the DOC staff at Powder River are longtime state employees.

“We have some three- to five-year employees, but most of the DOC staff has been here longer than five years,” Miles said.

Between the time the DOC announced its proposal Wednesday morning and the governor’s afternoon announcement, Miles said: “The Powder River staff is confident the right decision will be made, and that we will continue to provide the services in Baker for a long time to come.”

An initial press release from the governor’s office said Kulongoski was expected to make a decision on the cuts by the end of June.

Later in the day, Richter Taylor’s statement was released.

While all three prisons targeted for closure are rated minimum security, inmates at Powder River have a history of drug or alcohol addiction and multiple crimes that put them at high risk for recidivism unless they successfully complete the type of addiction treatment offered almost exclusively at Powder River, Miles said.

“This is the only prison in the state that addresses high needs, high-risk offenders,” he said. “They are less likely to change their life without treatment.”

Offenders arrive at Powder River from other institutions near the end of their sentence, typically with less that 24 months left to serve. According to DOC records, 59 of Powder River’s 271 inmates have more  than 24 months left on their sentences.

DOC statistics show that 8,000 of the state’s 14,000 inmates have either a “severe addiction” or “severe problem” with drug or alcohol abuse.

“That is significant, because if they don’t deal with the addictions, they will be back,” Miles said.

In Oregon, releasing prisoners early may pose more danger than people suspect, he said, because most prisoners aren’t even offered drug and alcohol treatment, or job training to improve their chances of success on the outside, until the last two years or less of their sentences.

Statewide, Miles said about 33 percent of people released from prison wind up back behind bars, partly due to untreated or unsuccessfully treated drug or alcohol problems, and other factors, such as mental illness, affiliations with gangs or racial hate groups, lack of job skills, their criminal records, or lack of positive affiliations with family and friends on the outside.

Miles pointed out that this is not the first time a governor has chosen to keep Powder River open despite DOC putting it on the chopping block.

Powder River was proposed for closure in both 2001 and 2002.

Republican lawmakers contend the current round of state budget cuts were made necessary largely by a 15 percent increase in state spending during the past two years of the recession by Democrats in control of the Oregon Legislature.

Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, who represents Baker County, is among Republicans who called, unsuccessfully, for the Legislature to meet in a special session to make more targeted reductions that protect public safety, education and in-home care for seniors and the disabled.

Ferrioli joined Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, in criticizing the governor’s planned across-the-board cuts because, they say, that approach ignores the priorities that Oregonians value.

Starr has been leading the charge for a special session, which he said “would give us the chance to protect the services that matter most.”

In addition to $51 million in cuts to the state safety system and closure of three prisons proposed by DOC, other cuts proposed by state agencies include the Department of Education’s proposal for $258 million in cuts to K-12 education, including reduced teacher salaries and shorter school years, as well as $158 million in cuts proposed by the Department of Human Services that would end in-home care for 13,200 seniors, Alzheimer’s patients and disabled individuals.

Ferrioli and other Republicans contend close to $100 million could be saved if state workers who don’t pay any of their health insurance premiums paid the same percentage as school teachers do.

“The Legislature and governor could take action tomorrow that would protect our classrooms and keep our streets safe,” said Ferrioli. “Let’s have the courage to hold a special session and set things right.”