BY THE NUMBERS

• Alabama has the fifth-highest incarceration rate in the United States.
• Over the past 30 years, Alabama's population has grown 30 percent, while its prison population has grown 600 percent.
• Alabama ranks first in terms of fewest dollars budgeted per state inmate.
• Alabama is tied for 11th with Missouri for the longest sentences imposed.
• Alabama ranks 14th in the nation in terms of longest lengths of incarceration.

          Source: Alabama Sentencing Commission 2004 Annual Report

In Alabama, a first time drug offender's chances of going to prison vary widely -- from a 12 percent chance of a prison sentence in some counties to an 87 percent chance in others.

The Alabama Sentencing Commission was formed in 2003 to address and correct this type of sentencing disparity and had hoped to have legislation in place by the final bell of the 2004 legislative session.

Although the commission introduced a number of bills this year -- including four revenue-raising bills, a bill requesting supplemental funding for community corrections and the state's first set of sentencing guidelines -- none of the bills passed the Legislature.

But commission members remain optimistic that in the next session, their efforts will come to fruition.

"I think primarily it was a time issue, plus the fact that there was so much involved that we needed more time to discuss the proposals with individual legislators," said commission chairman Joseph A. Colquitt, University of Alabama law professor and former circuit court judge.

The proposed worksheets to determine sentencing ranges are simple. A judge would fill in information about the defendant and the crime, such as prior felony convictions, time served in prison, juvenile records, use of a weapon and injury to the victim.

A number value would be given to each factor. The final tally could be used to determine if the defendant needs a prison sentence and, if so, how long it would be.

The guidelines are voluntary, and judges would be able to hand out sentences above and below the recommendations.

So far, the commission has created worksheets for drug, property and personal crimes. Personal crimes include assault, sodomy, rape, murder and robbery. The worksheets were developed by analyzing data collected from felony sentences over a five-year period.

The commission's hope is that judges will start using the guidelines to create more uniform sentences in Alabama courtrooms.

An added benefit could be relief for Alabama's overcrowded prisons, although Colquitt said prisons were not the driving issue behind the sentencing reform.

According to the commission's 2004 report, Alabama's prisons are operating at over 185 percent capacity, and the state budgets the least amount of money per year per inmate.

Forty-three percent of the prison population are drug and property offenders, and the commission hopes in some cases to divert these offenders through community corrections programs.

Alabama currently has 31 counties with community corrections programs, with 13 new programs possible for 2006. But for now, the commission will be trying to get the attention of legislators to push their reform.

"People want to know how these things will work in the courtroom. We anticipated that. We have to come in with a product first, and then you discuss the product," said Colquitt. The commission would be talking to "anybody and everybody" concerned with sentencing, from judges and prosecutors to defense attorneys and victims advocacy groups.