CHEYENNE - Drug and property crimes appear to be driving up Wyoming's prison population, according to an analysis by the Wyoming Department of Corrections.

The number of Wyoming inmates grew by 7.8 percent between Dec. 31, 2002, and the end of 2003, according recently released numbers from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Although Wyoming's total state and federal prison population - 1,832 - is relatively small compared to other states, Wyoming's was the fourth-fastest growing in the nation, behind North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. North Dakota had an 11.4 percent hike.

The number of state and federal women inmates in Wyoming also grew, but not by as much - 4.8 percent. There were 175 women incarcerated in 2003, compared with 167 in 2002 and 206 in 1996.

At the same time, the state Division of Criminal Investigation's annual crime index report said arrests totaled 359 per 10,000 population in 2003, down slightly from 362.9 per 10,000 in 2002.

"I would be a little hard-put to explain it," Laramie County District Judge Ed Grant said of the prison population increase.

He said one factor could be methamphetamine, which is a "much more insidious" drug than what the courts saw before. Judges rarely see heroin cases anymore, while cocaine use has leveled off as well.

"People on methamphetamine tend to commit more serious offenses," Grant said. "They don't sleep or eat, and apparently psychotic paranoia sets in and they do horrible things."

The Legislature, meanwhile, provided stiff penalties for methamphetamine manufacturing and related offenses.

But the prisons are not full of first offenders as some contend, Grant said in an interview this week.

Several years ago, news accounts claimed that judges were filling up the State Penitentiary by revoking probations for "technical violations," he noted.

"It just isn't true," he said.

The petitions for revocation, he said, will list anywhere from half a dozen to dozens of violations by an offender for such things as drug use, quitting jobs or failing to see his probation officer.

"When I look at the debate we have on these issues, there seems to be this big reluctance to conclude that there are a lot of people in prison because a lot of people are doing some really bad things," Grant said. "We seem to want to search for another explanation. And I don't think there is one."

State Public Defender Ken Koski agreed that drugs and property crimes are likely propelling prison inmate growth, because property crimes often are drug related.

There are addicts, he said, who steal to support their methamphetamine habits. Or they sell drugs to support their habits, although they are not big drug dealers.

"I do think we're incarcerating people for dealing drugs who perhaps should not be incarcerated because they're dealing drugs to support a habit and not to make a profit," Koski said.

The state, he said, has taken a big step with the drug courts, but many of the courts deal only with minor offenses with the exception of Laramie County and probably Natrona County.

Laramie County, he said, is taking felony offenders through the drug court programs.

Koski also said there are some judges who feel that any kind of drug dealer should go to the State Penitentiary, regardless of the type of drug or the volume of sales.

And finally, there is the public mood in favor of being tough on crime.

"It's zero tolerance," Koski said.

At any rate, the increase in the prison population does not mean the state will be forced to build more than one new prison.

Melinda Brazzale, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, said the new 650-bed medium-security facility destined for Torrington, Riverton or Rawlins can be expanded to 800 beds.

In addition, the state has contracted for a 100-bed facility for substance abuse treatment of inmates in Casper that is scheduled to open in January.

Moreover, county jails in the state are being expanded.

Corrections officials, Brazzale said, feel the current construction plans will meet the state's correction needs for eight to 10 years.

"It's hard to project further than that," she said.

Capital bureau reporter Joan Barron can be reached at (307) 632-1244 or at joan.barron@casperstartribune.net.