"It is anticipated that the inmates transferred out of state would not require any special programming; only basic religious, recreational and similar perfunctory programs will be required," Beard wrote.
He is studying the six proposals that were submitted this month, with Michigan being the only one offering to take all 1,500 inmates, department press secretary Susan McNaughton said this week.
If any deals are struck, it would mark the first time Pennsylvania inmates will be housed by other states, McNaughton said.
Though Gov. Rendell approved Beard's solicitation of the proposals, any subsequent prisoner transfers would be made through an existing interstate corrections compact and, thus, would not need approval from the General Assembly, she said.
"It's important to remember that we are just seeking information at this time.
"No decisions have been made. But there's an interest or we would not have sent the letters," McNaughton said.
The per diem rate that the department would pay per inmate must be negotiated, she said.
Inmate advocates, however, said the state was moving too fast on this plan, which they labeled as hardly the best solution for an overcrowding problem that they acknowledge must be addressed.
The state's 27 prisons have enough combined capacity to house 43,357 inmates, but in actuality, they were home to 51,022 as of Sept. 30, according to department data.
Still, sending inmates so far from home would create another set of problems for them and their families, said inmate advocate Betty Jean Thompson, president of Pennsylvania's Citizens United to Rehabilitate Errants (CURE).
"It would be horrible," she said. "It's bad enough you are in prison - a place where you're not treated like a human being to begin with.
