Legislature(1993 - 1994)
01/26/1993 03:00 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES
STANDING COMMITTEE
January 26, 1993
3:00 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Rep. Cynthia Toohey, Co-Chair
Rep. Con Bunde, Co-Chair
Rep. Gary Davis, Vice Chair
Rep. Tom Brice
Rep. Bettye Davis
Rep. Pete Kott
Rep. Irene Nicholia
Rep. Harley Olberg (arrived later)
Rep. Al Vezey
MEMBERS ABSENT
None
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Overview of the Department of Corrections
WITNESS REGISTER
Lloyd Rupp, Commissioner Designee
Department of Corrections
P.O. Box 112000
Juneau, Alaska 99811-2000
(907) 465-3376
Allen Cooper, Interim Deputy Commissioner
Department of Corrections
P.O. Box 112000
Juneau, Alaska 99811-2000
(907) 465-3376
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 93-5, SIDE A
Number 000
CO-CHAIR CYNTHIA TOOHEY called the meeting to order at
3:04 p.m., announced she would chair the meeting, and noted
members present. She announced that the purpose of the
meeting was to hear an overview of the Department of
Corrections and to question Commissioner Rupp.
LLOYD RUPP, COMMISSIONER DESIGNEE , DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, introduced two members of his staff: Allen
Cooper, interim deputy commissioner, and Dana Latour,
legislative assistant.
COMMISSIONER RUPP read a prepared statement to the
committee. (Attachment 1) In it, he described the
department's mission, the rising crime rates, prison
populations, corrections budgets, prison construction costs,
and the long delays between a judge's sentencing and the
actual start of incarceration. He said he opposed a master
plan consultant's recommendation to build new facilities for
up to 700 new inmates without first trying alternatives to
full-time incarceration. Commissioner Rupp proposed
addressing alcohol, which he said was a major cause of
crime, and reserving prison cells for serious criminals. He
proposed using his department to teach basic literacy,
employment, and social skills to reduce recidivism. He also
proposed alternatives to confinement, such as daily
reporting, fines, restitution, intense supervision, and
electronic monitoring.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said such efforts would require
cooperation with the court system, with communities, and
with private organizations.
Number 172
COMMISSIONER RUPP referred to a document laying out the
department's organization and some issues it faced.
(Attachment 2) The statement outlined the increased numbers
of those awaiting incarceration, the general violation of
emergency population caps, and the large backlog of cases
requiring incarceration. He said the department must
increase its commitment to the use of intermediate
sanctions. He noted that 1,000 Alaska Natives were
imprisoned in the state, and the department needed to
improve its sensitivity to their different culture.
COMMISSIONER RUPP asked the legislature's help to implement
Project Hope, a "boot camp" type program of early
intervention and financial accountability for substance
abusing criminals. (An outline of the program is included
in Attachment 2). He also asked for legislative help in
developing sentencing alternatives, which he defined as
options available to a judge passing sentence on a convict,
other than incarceration, which can cost the state up to
$100 per day per inmate. He defined intermediate sanctions
as measures, such as half-way houses or community residence
centers, where incarcerated felons may transition to
freedom. He defined back-end sanctions as those applied to
parolees who may need to be returned to incarceration or to
a half-way house. He also asked the legislature to return
the Wildwood Correctional Facility to full operating
capacity.
Number 248
COMMISSIONER RUPP said he attended a meeting January 26 with
several commissioners involved in the Point Hope project.
He reported that he expected faster-than-expected progress
in laying the groundwork for setting up Project Hope camps
at the site of the state-supported Point MacKenzie dairy
farms.
CHAIR TOOHEY asked Commissioner Rupp to explain his
confrontation with the Speaker of the House over his
supplemental budget request.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that the department has in the
past often sought $10 million in supplemental
appropriations, but deficits from earlier fiscal years,
combined with more recent budget reductions, had left the
department about $10 million in the hole. While the
previous commissioner may have accepted such a budget
situation, possibly based on different assumptions about
prison populations, he said he could not accept such a
situation and needed the supplemental funding.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said he had been on the job only three
months, but the recent skyrocketing in the population of
felons in the state also justified the request for
supplementary funding. He reiterated his desire to move
from a bed-driven system to a system relying more on
alternative sanctions, a desire he predicted would be
reflected in his budget requests and which might lower the
department's budget in the long run.
Number 331
REP. BETTYE DAVIS asked how much of the department's budget
would be spent on community corrections, and whether it was
higher or lower than the previous year. She expressed
concern about the cancellation of a probation officer
training academy.
COMMISSIONER RUPP replied that the community corrections
budget would be significantly higher this year. He said
while last year's budget cutback aimed at closing the
academy, there were some staffers remaining. He believed
training was important, especially in administering
alternative sanctions, and he planned to restart the
training academy. He noted that the department's training
function has been moved directly under the commissioner.
REP. B. DAVIS asked whether it was true that some parole and
probation officers had received permission to carry guns 24
hours a day, though they may not have completed
psychological testing.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that that was true. He said
department staffers in Fairbanks have expressed an interest
in allowing officers to carry weapons, as the department had
caught 36 parolees or probationers carrying guns in the last
18 months. He said he approved 24-hour weapons carrying
permits for those that requested them, as long as they had
been trained and qualified with their weapons, and as long
as body armor was also made available to them. Commissioner
Rupp said the state does not now require psychological
testing prior to issuing such permits, though he supported
such tests and wanted to begin administering them. However,
he declined to put officers at risk by depriving them of
weapons for the weeks or months it may take to get such
tests.
Number 390
REP. BUNDE asked about the possibility of requiring alcohol
abusing offenders to take Antabuse, a drug which induces
violent physical reactions to any alcohol they consume.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that the department was planning
a pilot study of using acupuncture, and was soliciting
information from private contractors on methods found to be
successful in other states. He expressed his opposition to
discussion groups as a waste of money, and his devotion to
job skills training as an important element of
rehabilitating alcoholics inmates.
Number 431
REP. BUNDE expressed an interest in learning recidivism
rates in Alaska, and also asked whether the state provides
tobacco to inmates.
ALLEN COOPER, INTERIM DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS, remarked that this question had been raised by
Rep. Jerry Sanders and an answer would be available the next
day.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said the department was studying the
possibility of having smoke-free corrections institutions
and the legal ramifications.
REP. BUNDE asked whether recent reports on the dangers of
second-hand tobacco smoke would bring changes in prison
smoking policies.
COMMISSIONER RUPP responded that the report would likely
have a major impact on such policy considerations.
Number 456
REP. BRICE asked whether probation officers were covered by
the Alaska Police Standards Commission.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said they were, but he was not sure
exactly how the commission's standards applied and he would
have to get more detailed information later.
REP. B. DAVIS asked how many members of minority groups were
employed in the department, particularly upper management.
COMMISSIONER RUPP stated the department employed 106 Alaska
Natives and 36 American Indians, but he was not sure of the
number of Blacks or Hispanics. At Rep. B. Davis' request,
he promised to forward a thorough breakdown. Commissioner
Rupp expressed concern that, except for one deputy
superintendent and a recent hire to address Native cultural
issues, few minority employees were at ranks higher than
sergeant. He said the department had formed an ad hoc
committee to address the small numbers of minority and
female employees.
Number 496
REP. BRICE asked whether the department had any long-term
departmental budget projections. He also asked for
projections for a new women's facility, for any planned
changes to the Wildwood Correctional Facility, or any
proposed locations for new facilities.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that the lack of a management
information system handicapped production of such
projections, and the department has started a three-year
program to develop such a system. He pointed out his
obligation to accommodate all inmates sent him by the
courts, and his lack of control over the process. However,
some computer models allowed some projections, though he
disagreed with a master planning consultant's recommendation
to build a new 700-bed facility by 1996. He said the demand
did not justify building a separate women's facility but
supported studying the possibility of building a women's
unit adjacent to some existing correctional facility.
COMMISSIONER RUPP projected a 2.5 percent to 4.5 percent
annual increase in convictions, which would justify expanded
intermediate sanctions programs instead of more building.
Building more prisons to handle large loads of convicts
felons would be an expensive and not always successful
tactic, he said. He commented he would prefer to address
the causes of crime, and to work with minor criminals before
they commit offenses necessitating long-term imprisonment.
With such an effort, he said, the department could meet its
long-term inmate housing needs without new construction,
though with some adjustments.
Number 555
REP. BRICE asked about the department's policy on
procurement, and said small Interior businesses had
expressed interest in this area.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said the department had both state-wide
and single-institution procurement policies, and was trying
to reduce procurement costs. He asked permission to respond
in writing with more information.
Number 572
CHAIR TOOHEY asked whether, given budget restrictions, the
department could train prison inmates to serve as alcoholism
peer counselors.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said it was inappropriate to allow inmates
to provide their fellow inmates some services, such as
medical care, as such work involved delicate issues of
health and confidentiality. However, inmates can be
successfully used to provide vocational training to other
inmates.
TAPE 93-5, SIDE B
Number 000
REP. OLBERG asked whether the committee could visit the
Wildwood Correctional Facility.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that such a visit would be
beneficial and possible, and visits were now being scheduled
around legislators' schedules, possibly early in the
morning.
REP. B. DAVIS asked whether the department's plans for
Operation Hope required enactment of a bill.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said some attorneys have told him that the
commissioner has power to enact many of the provisions in
Project Hope, but other advice has indicated that sending
those convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol to
Project Hope "boot camps" might require some clarifying
changes in laws. The commissioner said he wanted to scope
out problems, generate a consensus, and come up with a
thoroughly researched plan to be presented to the
legislature next year.
Number 086
COMMISSIONER RUPP, responding to questions from REP. BRICE,
said the state's prison industries program was alive and
well, though its focus was changing under his new
leadership. He said he wanted to involve businesses and
unions to help determine what job skills would help inmates
get jobs, then help teach such skills. He expressed
enthusiasm at the prospect of providing inmates with useful
work skills.
REP. NICHOLIA encouraged Commissioner Rupp to hire more
Alaska Natives in the department, including administration,
and also to promote Natives already employed. She also
asked the percentage of minority workers at Lemon Creek
Correctional Center.
MR. COOPER said there were now 60 workers, but he did not
know the number of minorities.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said that when he first joined the
department, he found little awareness of minority
employment. He stated he would provide more information on
minority employment. He also said the department was
interested in using interns this summer to provide executive
training for university students or others, and possibly
providing scholarships for such a program.
Number 196
CHAIR TOOHEY suggested offering internships to lower-level
departmental employees.
COMMISSIONER RUPP said the department's training academy was
a good way to achieve such training.
Number 216
REP. B. DAVIS asked Commissioner Rupp whether he was happy
to be in his current position, and whether he planned any
major changes in the department.
COMMISSIONER RUPP answered that, on balance, he was glad to
be in his current position, though he recognized the
difficulty of his position. Insofar as making changes, he
noted that he had already reestablished the training academy
under his direct authority. He said he was proposing other
changes, including adding staffers to deal with special
needs and Alaska Native offenders. He also praised the
professional qualifications and dedication of his staff.
Number 268
There being no more questions, CHAIR TOOHEY adjourned the
meeting at 4:05 p.m.
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