Number of women jailed in Alaska reaches all-time high

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - The state Department of Corrections has moved women prisoners from Hiland Mountain Correctional Center to the Anchorage Jail as Alaska's female prison population has reached an all-time high.

On Jan. 5, 31 women were confined at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, a facility that in the past has held only men, the Alaska Dispatch News (http://bit.ly/1xcPcLE) reported. Moving women out of Highland Mountain began last year.

Sherrie Daigle, a Corrections Department information officer, said 581 female prisoners were in custody early last week. Women now make up 12 percent of Alaska's prison population, according to the department, up from 8 percent a decade ago.

Alaska is not the only place where the female prison population has increased. Across the nation, harsher penalties for drug and property offenses have increased women's numbers behind bars, said Ron Everett, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center.

"The severity of the punishment has increased," he said.

Women in Alaska were most likely to be serving time for probation violations, drug offenses, driving under the influence and theft, according to a Corrections Department offender profile published in 2014.

Women make up about 21 percent of the people in jail for drug offenses. They accounted for just 9 percent of the people incarcerated for violent crimes and robberies,

Probation violations are a common reason for women to be in prison, Everett said.

"They get in a little trouble and get put on probation, then violate probation and are more likely to end up (incarcerated) in an institution," he said.

Daigle would not speculate on future plans for a higher number of imprisoned women.

"It is too soon in the budgetary process for the department to discuss long-term plans or changes to any of our institutions," she said.

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Information from: Alaska Dispatch News, http://www.adn.com