Deukmejian Will Seek OK to Expand Prison System

Gov. George Deukmejian said today that he will seek approval this year for a new expansion of the state’s overcrowded prison system.

Deukmejian told a Capitol news conference that “very likely” he “would have to seek funding for a further expansion of the prison system.” Later, in response to questions, the Republican governor said he would seek approval from the Legislature “this year.”

The governor did not indicate the cost of his latest proposal.

Currently, there are 46,600 inmates in California prisons, which are at more than 150% of their rated capacity. The state is implementing a $1.2-billion prison construction effort, aimed at providing 6,025 cells and other quarters now under construction at four new prisons.

But Daniel McCarthy, director of the Department of Corrections, has estimated that the state prison population will reach 56,000 to 58,000 inmates within three years.

“If we continue to have this tremendous growth within the inmate population,” Deukmejian said, prison officials will be forced to “find adequate space for them.” He said his Administration would “take some emergency steps to deal with the situation.”