An area group is trying to help Carbon County find ways to cut down on prison overcrowding, recidivism and get treatment for drug and alcohol offenders.

During the county prison board meeting on Wednesday, Dr. Leta Thompson of the Carbon County Correctional Facility Research Committee approached the board to follow up on information and suggestions she and her colleagues provided last May.She commended the board for taking initial steps to figure out how to solve problems in the prison, such as looking into utilizing home electronic monitoring (ankle bracelets) more; and visiting day reporting centers in the state.During her last visit, Thompson said that drug courts were the number one recommendation as a way to help curb the county's high recidivism rate.Drug addiction is the driving force behind the 94 percent repeat offender rate in Carbon, the TIMES NEWS reported last year.She said that the board has taken good "initial first steps" but hasn't made more necessary moves for short-term results in getting help for drug and alcohol offenders currently incarcerated."Inmates are being denied services they should be getting," Thompson said. "Without treatment those inmates who suffer from addictions have little chance for recovery and most likely will end up in nonviolent crimes related to their addictions. The lack of treatment perpetuates overcrowding, recidivism and an increase to the taxpayers."She urged the board to meet with the courts, state and anyone else needed to get the ball rolling, and suggested that the county make a monetary commitment to start things off."The investment will make Carbon County better for all our citizens and you, the prison board, excellent stewards," Thompson said.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein said that the board met with the courts and has made some changes, including some rules on how people are monitored; utilizing ankle bracelets more; and hiring additional adult probation officers to handle the larger case load.Commissioner William O'Gurek noted that the county is trying to look at a number of options and see which would help the most without costing the taxpayers more money.He added that the county learned that there is a new program through the state that lets counties try to get inmates deemed eligible for Medicaid before they are released. That way they can get treatment for their drug or alcohol addiction at the state's cost."We're working a little differently, but ultimately we're looking for what's best for the taxpayers without having to throw a mill of tax on them," O'Gurek said.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that the county will continue to look at ways to reduce the overcrowding problem.In other matters, Warden Joseph Gross reported that the inmate population at the prison as of Wednesday was 179. The facility is a 192-bed prison and has been hovering close to or at capacity for quite some time.