By Mark R. Chellgren
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - As many as 500 state inmates serving their time in local jails will probably get an early release as the state tries to cope with its budget problems, Gov. Paul Patton said Wednesday.

The releases could come "pretty soon" as the fiscal year is nearly half over and the Corrections Department alone is facing a $6 million deficit.

"We've got to get this thing under control," Mr. Patton said in an impromptu interview.

There are about 4,200 state inmates in county jails, or 500 more than had been budgeted.

Most are Class D felons, those with the least dangerous or violent charges, whose sentences are from one to five years incarceration.

Other state inmates are awaiting space in state prisons under a system known as controlled intake.

It is the former group who will be released, a practice which will have the snowballing effect of throwing many local jail budgets into disarray because they depend on state income for inmate housing to operate their own facilities.

The state pays jails a certain sum each day for housing state inmates.

"The cheapest thing we can do for one extra prisoner is keep them in a state institution," Mr. Patton said.

The early release program will target nonviolent offenders.

In an executive order released Wednesday, Mr. Patton pointed out the Corrections Department has already cut $23.1 million in budgeted spending during the last two years.