The simplest and costliest response is to build new prisons, but more and more policymakers are questioning the wisdom of this option during a time of limited public resources. Other possible options, few of which are easy or cheap, include: (1) adjusting sentencing and reducing prison time served by some offenders; (2) expanding use of nonprison, community-based penalties; (3) acquiring more short-term and long-term prison space; and (4) investing in strategies to prevent young people from entering the criminal justice system. No single option other than aggressively expanding and purchasing close-custody beds appears to have a realistic chance of alleviating or substantially delaying the need for building another 800-bed prison in 2005. The most controversial option -- adjusting sentencing and reducing prison time served by nonviolent offenders -- seems to hold the greatest promise for reducing the need for prison beds over the long term. Without sentencing adjustments, the other short-term options likely will be inadequate. Figures, table