Mississippi Female Prison Population Rises

"We have criminalized addiction and that means that we have more and more women housed in prison who really should be in treatment centers."

The number of female offenders in Mississippi prisons has reached an all time high. MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports.

In 1976 there were only 68 female inmates in Mississippi Correctional facilities. Today , there are almost fifteen hundred. Laura Cole, a Deputy Commissioner with the Mississippi Dept of Corrections, says there are several variables at play.

“Well I think we’ve probably in our society gone overboard in sentencing in general. We have criminalized addiction and that means that we have more and more women housed in prison who really should be in treatment centers. And should be worked within the community as opposed to taking up a very expensive bed in prison.”

Central Mississippi Correctional Facility Supervisor, Margaret Bingham, says loosing so many women to incarceration will ultimately impact society as a whole.

“They’re the person that’s responsible for the children. They’re the persons that carry that family. And then when they end up incarcerated then you start looking at how does it affect the home period.”

As the number of female offenders continue to rise Tina Ladner, Associate Warden at the Central Mississippi correctional Facility says so does the state’s share of their medical expenses.

“Women come to us in not so great health because they ignored their health out there on the streets. They would have been on drugs. We’re getting an increase in the number of HIV positive offenders.”

The majority of female offenders in the state are housed at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.