4 EMBARGOED for Monday, May 11 A quarterly, non-partisan survey of public opinion Conducted by Public Policy Resources Laboratory. Texas A&M University Sponsored by Harte-Hanks Communications Inc. Sales tax financing of prison construction, private prisons draw favor with Texans By DR. JAMES DYER and KATHY CASTEEI, Texas Poll Near majorities of Texans favor financing new prisons through a higher sales tax and support the state's plan to use private prisons to ease crowding, the spring Texas Poll shows. New public and private prisons are two paths state officials are pursuing to comply with court-ordered penal reforms that include less-crowded facilities. The Texas Department of Corrections has been forced to close its doors to new inmates and grant early releases to hundreds of others several times this year when the prison population reached 95 percent of capacity. As in previous Texas Polls, many Texans surveyed this spring indicated they are willing to pay higher taxes to build new prisons. In this poll, 49 percent say they favor a proposal to finance the new prisons through an increase in the sales tax. However, almost as many — 42 percent — oppose it. Nine percent said they have no opinion. Another solution to crowding, private prisons, received the go-ahead last month when Gov. Bill Clements signed a bill authorizing private construction and operation of prisons in Texas. TDC officials hope it will mean 2,000 additional prison beds by September. Texans increasingly favor this option — 48 percent approve now, compared to 42 percent in January 1985. The private prisons are opposed by 36 percent of Texans with another 16 percent undecided. Support for private prisons is strongest among upper-income Texans (60 percent favor them), newcomers to the state (56 percent favor), college graduates (57 percent favor), Republicans (55 percent favor), and men (54 percent favor). Approval is weaker among Democrats, who split on the issue 42-41, and women, who support it 44-37. Private prisons are opposed by blacks 49-39, and high-school dropouts, 42-37. The Texas Poll interviewed 1,082 Texans over the telephone April 11-25. The poll is sponsored by Harte-Hanks Communications and conducted by the Public Policy Resources Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Results for the total sample may vary by as much as 3 percentage points in either direction because of sampling error. P.O. Box 3000, Bryan, Texas 77805