A: Overcrowding.

While the school district would like to lovingly scatter the overflow of children throughout neighboring schools, the Department of Corrections is in the process of once again shipping inmates to out-of-state facilities.

The DOC will be "renting beds" from one of the 64 facilities run by the nation's largest private jailer, Corrections Corp. of America, which has christened its facilities with such names as Lee Adjustment Center, Bay County Jail Annex and my favorite, Marion County Jail II, a jail so nice they used the name twice.

CCA is a real company with real shareholders, which means that someday you could see a baseball game played at Corrections Corp. of America Field.

And CCA isn't the only fish in this semi-sleazy pond. There is the GEO Group based in Florida and Cornell Companies Inc., which just acquired Correctional Systems Inc., a San Diego-based privatized jail provider.

The board of directors of those companies must love it when crime rates go up. Oh, the parties they must have when they hear of states enforcing tougher sentencing laws. See how they rub their hands together and giggle like teenage girls when they read news reports of riots in overcrowded prisons.

They must have been convulsing with joy and planning vacations when they heard about the U.S. Supreme Court's medical marijuana ruling.

Our DOC has a history with CCA, which will be charging us about $62 a night per inmate. That could get rather spendy, what with the three years worth of new prison construction we have to look forward to.

I wonder if the DOC shopped around at all. With a little planning, it could have instigated the first-ever reverse auction bidding war on eBay, whereby the lowest bidder wins the inmate:

"If you are the lucky winner of this auction you could soon be collecting $rent$ from The Evergreen State for this Washington State Penitentiary vintage model 1968 spouse-free medium custody inmate.

"This studious, non-violent felon has been infraction free for three years! There is a small chip in left front tooth (see photo), but otherwise in great condition. Get him while you can!"

Moving inmates around from state to state may not seem like a big deal, and that is exactly what the DOC would like us to think. But the emotional as well as financial toll on families of the incarcerated is huge.

You might be able to make a trip out to see your loved one once or twice a year, only to be denied visitation because your paperwork is lost or because you showed up for a visit wearing open-toed shoes.

For the inmate, transfers could mean job loss or the end of continued education, but it's the family visitation that is most cherished, as it keeps them rooted and focused on doing all the right things.

Too bad there isn't a way to keep our inmates in-state until their new digs are done in '08.

The empty Safeway and QFC on Broadway could hold a few hundred people, or maybe some nice church in Bellevue or Kirkland would be open to setting up a tent prison on their property. The gun-owning parishioners could volunteer as guards, providing maximum security camping with a spiritual undertone.

Perhaps we could bring pre-screened inmates into our homes for domestic immersion rehabilitation.

A typical day might start at the breakfast table, where the main responsibility would be to continually prompt the children to stop playing and eat breakfast.

After the kids have been sent off to school, the damage control begins with dishwashing and general cleanup, followed by menu planning and food prep for after-school snacks and dinner.

After laundry duty, it's time for an hour of TV makeover shows, then free time with the computer for news scanning and e-mailing.

Then we buckle down to some online schooling of the inmate's choice, followed by a mandatory nap.

All too soon, the kids return from school and after homework we enjoy recreation time out in the yard.

Dinnertime would bring a nutritionally balanced meal served on a real plate, because everyone knows that the rehabilitation process is aided by not having your meals served to you daily on a compartmentalized tray.

If you have a loved one who is awaiting word on an out-of-state transfer, you may want to visit www.prisontalk.com for support while the DOC and the CCA get on with their business of bed renting.