That means 200 felons could go free with as much as 8 months left on their sentences, says Scott Carver, executive director of the Department of Corrections. He called an emergency release "pretty likely."
"We are doing everything we can to avoid it," he told The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday. "We've got our fingers crossed.
"But if our prison commitments don't change, then there probably will be an early release."
An emergency release now would differ greatly from the 237 men the state let go in June 2001.
That release - meant to trim the corrections budget in lean economic times - focused on offenders with property crime and drug convictions who already had an upcoming parole date.
The state had more than 900 candidates to cull from. But ever since 2001, the Corrections Department and the Board of Pardons have depleted that pool in what Carver described as an ongoing early release system.
Carver expected to update Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on the overcrowding this morning. During that discussion, Carver plans to raise the possibility that Huntsman may need to invoke the state's "emergency release due to overcrowding" law, which no governor has implemented before.
That law requires the inmate population to exceed the prison's physical capacity for "at least 45 calendar days." As of Tuesday, the state supervised 6,181 inmates, following the release of 59 inmates as previously scheduled. The prison now has a total of 76 beds available, 20 of which are designated for women, either in the prison or through contracts with county jails.
"Right now we have no beds that are not being used in the state," Carver said.
Once an emergency release is instigated, the Board of Pardons would compile a list of all inmates by their parole date, including everyone from the most violent offenders to those convicted of white-collar crimes.
Then starting at the top of the list, prison officials would free inmates until the prison is no longer overcrowded.
Davis County Sheriff Bud Cox can sympathize with the state's problem - all of the county jails are crowded too. But the thought of an emergency release doesn't sit well.
"The sheriffs were not excited about the early release program in 2001 and I am sure they will not be excited about releasing 200 felons back into society all at once," said Cox, who is president of the Utah Sheriff's Association.
He expects crime in Utah neighborhoods would increase if the prisoners are released all at once.
State Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber, called the possibility of an emergency release "unfortunate" and he places most of the blame on his fellow lawmakers.
"To a certain extent it was because we didn't come to grips with the fact that this is a big issue," said Thomas, who is the chairman of the budget committee that deals with the state prison system. "We should have been thinking about this sooner than now."
He said part of the problem stems from county officials who have become increasingly hesitant to enter into a contract with the state for jail beds because they feel shortchanged.
And Thomas agrees with the counties: "We've got to come to the table and actually foot the bill."
During a special session of the Legislature earlier this year, lawmakers passed a resolution allowing three counties - Beaver, Sanpete and Millard - to expand their jails, in part, for state use. Since then, Millard has backed out, Sanpete hasn't begun construction and Beaver's addition won't be finished for a year.
Lawmakers also provided the Corrections Department with $5.6 million to fund 288 new beds at the Gunnison prison, which won't begin to house inmates until the end of 2006.
The emergency release would relieve pressure until this additional space is available.
Even then, Carver wants to head off future overcrowding. He is preparing to request millions more in the legislative session beginning in January to fund an additional 192-bed wing at the Gunnison prison.
mcanham@sltrib.com
