COLUMBIA--After three long years on bread and water, officials with the S.C. Department of Corrections might be getting some slight economic sustenance.

During Wednesday's annual State of the State address, Gov. Mark Sanford announced a policy change at Corrections that would require all "appropriate inmates" to take part in an education program aimed at earning them a high school diploma or equivalency.

Sanford said $2.5 million would be allocated to the program because it was "crazy to continue sending folks out of a criminal justice system with no better educational leg to stand on and expect good results."

The announcement came less than two weeks after the governor released an executive budget that proposed a $19 million increase in funding for Corrections, bringing the agency's state budget up to almost $277 million.

Both moves mark a change in fortune for the department. In the last three years, Corrections has seen its budget drop from $276 million to $257 million, while the number of state in-mates increased at a rate of 1,000 a year.

"It was the first ray of hope we have had in a long time," said Jon Ozmint, Correction's director.

Neither Ozmint nor the governor's office would say where the program's money would come from. Ozmint did say, however, that it would not come from the operating budget of any other agency. Ozmint said meetings would start next week with House and Senate leaders to begin work to move the funds.

"We are not going to reveal the source right now for strategic reasons," he said. "There are opponents to this idea."

The plan itself was born out of a conversation between Sanford and Dr. Lonnie Randolph Jr., the president-elect of the S.C. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. During the holidays, the governor met with several of the state's black leaders and discussed topics including disparities in education and the criminal justice system.

"I talked with him about the revolving door in our prison system," Randolph said. "About how other so-called industrialized countries do not allow their prisoners to leave worse than when they went in, about how learning a marketable skill is part of the restitution they must pay before getting out."

There are almost 24,000 inmates in South Carolina, and 63 percent of them lack a high school diploma or equivalency. According to the U.S. Justice Department, about 68 percent of state prison inmates nationwide do not have a high school diploma.

Repeat offenses are a major problem within the nation's prisons, and experts with the National Institute of Justice say education is a major component of solving it.

"It sounds like what they are proposing is similar to a larger trend," said NIT spokesperson Sheila Jerusalem. "The Bush administration has listed this as a priority."

Nine out of 10 states offer some form of inmate education, as does South Carolina.

Every "appropriate" inmate entering a state facility is tested. Ozmint said "appropriate" is defined by several factors, including the inmate's initial education level and the amount of time he or she will be incarcerated.

If an inmate is deemed appropriate, he or she can voluntarily participate in the system's education program. Under the new plan, their participation will be mandatory. If they choose not to comply, privileges such as visitation, days off for good behavior and canteen use can be taken away.

"Even at that, there will be some prisoners who choose not to participate," Ozmint said. "Some people you just can't reach. But it's our duty to try."

While the details of when and how this program will start are still being worked out, Ozmint said one thing is for sure: Without the $2.5 million, it would not be possible.

The state's budget woes have hit Corrections particularly hard. This shortfall in funding led to Corrections running a $27 million deficit in 2002-2003 and played a large role in Corrections' continued problems in staffing its institutions.

Ozmint said South Carolina has one of the highest officer-to-inmate ratios in the country, 10 to 1. The national average is 5 to 1, he said.

But lack of funds has also led to some innovative thinking.

Corrections started a gristmill for grits and a chicken laying operation for eggs. The governor has said this program will save taxpayers about $750,000 a year in feeding expenses for inmates and will teach them about the work ethic and agricultural practices.

Ozmint said Corrections is about to announce a new vocational program at the Wateree Correctional Facility near Camden. The $250,000 program, funded through private donations, will teach inmates how to work with thoroughbred horses and will operate with help from the American Thoroughbred Association. Ozmint said the program will start with between 30 and 40 inmates who will be taught the trade by some of the best horse people in South Carolina.

But he said such ideas were born out of desperation, and it is nice to know the department will receive some financial help in the near future.

"You'd really like to be able to do more than the minimum," he said. "In fact, I'd like to take it further and begin some faith-based initiatives. Those kinds of programs have shown to provide results elsewhere in the country."

As for Randolph, he just hopes programs such as the new one will stop the cycle of inmates returning to state prisons.

"We can't continue to be a backwoods state in every sense of our lives."

Clay Barbour covers the

Statehouse. Contact him at

(803) 799-9051.