Many of North Dakota's prison inmates are sentenced to less than a year behind bars, and the state could ease crowding problems if it sent more of them to county jails, a consultant says.

Keeping those prisoners from clogging up the state system also could decrease the future need for new prison cells, said George Camp, a principal in Criminal Justice Institute Inc., a consultancy.

"That could dramatically alter whatever future steps you take," Camp told lawmakers.

Camp was hired to help the state auditor's office analyze North Dakota's prison system. The findings were presented Monday to members of the Legislature's Audit and Fiscal Review Committee.

Elaine Little, director of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Camp's proposals have some flaws.

Most jails that can hold prisoners for longer sentences are full and do not offer treatment, and other lockups can house prisoners for only 90 days or less, she said.

"If they can no longer come to us, then those counties and those smaller jails will have to find a way to pay," Little said.

The audit found that in 2003, about 46 percent of the inmates who entered the prison system were expected to serve less than a year by the time their sentences were reduced for good behavior.

Little said inmates serving less than a year in the state system commonly are convicted of theft or drug crimes. Many served time in county jails before arriving at a state prison, reducing their stay even further, the report said.

"Many of these 'short-term' inmates are unable to benefit from the treatment programs offered by the (state corrections department) because they are released before they can complete them," the report says.

Camp acknowledged that the plan could require developing treatment programs that county jails now lack. "I would guess, for the most part, they don't have sufficient resources," he said.