BOISE, Idaho (AP) - When Idaho shipped 302 inmates to a private Minnesota prison last month, it was only easing overcrowding: The state's prisons remain above capacity, and Department of Correction officials appear likely to ask for a nearly $8 million cash infusion during the upcoming 2006 Legislature to handle the overflow.

With a two-year contract, it'll cost Idaho about $1.1 million more to lock up its prisoners at the prison in Appleton, Minn., run by the Corrections Corporation of America. That's based on figures given by state officials on Oct. 27, when they said it would cost $53 per day in Minnesota, compared to $48 in Idaho.

State prison officials, including prison system director Tom Beauclair, are arguing that this added burden, which doesn't include the cost of transporting inmates or keeping their records from afar, is another reason why Idaho should invest $160 million in new prisons. As a stopgap measure, Beauclair is expected in January to ask legislators for another $7.9 million for the current fiscal year to cover the cost of housing overflow inmates both out-of-state and in county jail cells.

"Obviously the governor would prefer not to have to send folks out of state," said Mike Journee, spokesman for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, in an interview with The Spokesman-Review newspaper. "That's a costly remedy for the situation."

Idaho's prison population has more than doubled in the past decade, to 6,764 inmates. That's up from 6,526 on June 30.

In addition to Minnesota, Idaho also has 588 prisoners farmed out to county jails. The state has gained 47 inmates a month since July 1 - well above prison officials' estimate of 30 prisoners a month.

But moving DOC inmates to county jails is also viewed as a short-term remedy.

That's because local jails are growing increasingly crowded, including in Fremont, Twin Falls and Canyon counties. Even in Bonneville County, which built a 280-bed, $7.5 million facility in 1998 and has since used empty bed space to take in prisoners from elsewhere, officials expect to reach capacity from local inmates well before the originally estimated date of 2013, according to the Idaho Falls Post Register.

Once capacity has been reached, Bonneville's jail customers will have to shop elsewhere.

Prison officials blame methamphetamine use as a big reason behind the spike in Idaho inmates.

Sentences meted out for felony drug crimes nearly doubled to 1,807 in fiscal year 2005 from 957 in 1996.

This follows one of Kempthorne's top campaign pledges to crack down on meth: Lawmakers followed his lead and have established tougher minimum sentencing guidelines for those who manufacture the illegal stimulant.

Some lawmakers including Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, who co-sponsored community meetings held earlier this year across the state to discuss the state's rising prison population, say they are ready to give more consideration to so-called "drug courts," where offenders can avoid incarceration if they'll follow strict treatment and rehabilitation regimens.

In addition, some others including Rep. Mary Lou Shepherd, D-Prichard, favor allowing supervised release of some non-violent inmates who've already served fixed portions of their sentences.

If Idaho's prison population is going to increase, "then it's probably more economical for the state to build the prisons" rather than to continue to ship them out of state, Eskridge said, of Beauclair's proposal. "But I would like to avoid that" by exploring alternatives.