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Senator pitches alternatives to proposed mega prison; locals and judges warn of fiscal and infrastructure risks
Summary
Sen. Brian King urged the Judiciary Committee to reject a single mega-prison approach and instead fund regional capacity, more front-line officers and mental-health services, arguing those steps would be cheaper and more effective at reducing crime and incarceration.
Sen. Brian King used his allotted time before the Senate Judiciary Committee to present a multi-part alternative to a proposed large prison project that state officials had floated for Franklin County. King urged lawmakers to consider a distributed approach: build diagnostic intake centers and additional capacity in or near the counties that contribute the most prison admissions, hire additional public-safety officers, and fund more mental-health and reentry services.
King said three factors drive the state's current correctional pressures: high crime, jail and court backlogs, and persistent underfunding of corrections and supervision. "You have to have money," he told the committee, saying corrections historically has been funded…
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