Alaska lawmakers' new crime bill would lock up more people, cost up to $4 million a year

JUNEAU — Being tough on crime comes at a price.

The Alaska House Finance Committee heard that message Wednesday, when members learned that legislation to toughen the state's criminal laws could produce more than $4 million a year in added prison costs.

The news came from Gov. Bill Walker's administration in a "fiscal note," or a written estimate of the potential costs of passing a bill.

The Department of Corrections, at the committee's hearing in Juneau, said that Senate Bill 54 — legislation aimed at reversing parts of last year's criminal justice overhaul, Senate Bill 91 — could fill an extra 285 beds in state jails and prisons, on a yearly basis.

It costs the corrections department $41.49 a day for each extra prisoner, which means the total yearly price tag for SB 54 could be as much as $4.3 million. That's the upper limit of the corrections department's estimate; the lower limit is 108 extra prisoners, at a cost of $1.6 million a year.

Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2017/11/01/alaska-lawmakers-new-crime-bill-would-lock-up-more-people-cost-up-to-4-million-a-year/