Subversion 1.3.x Debian pkgs?

[Matt England <mengland@mengland.net>]

I attempted to apt-get a Subversion 1.3.0 Debian package a few days ago 
(via an 'experimental' package base) and failed due to dependencies on 
updated libapr and other stuff that was apparently not ready.

Has anybody been able to update Subversion 1.3.0 via Debian package 
management?  Or can anyone point out how to do so?

An aside: if I build svn 1.3.x from source, does Debian or any 3rd-party 
util provide some means to turn said build into a Debian package (as in 
.deb)?  I know of a utility called 'checkinstall' to create rpms on 
redhat...I think...but I'm looking for anything similar on Debian.

I suspect this is a faq; I have yet to find an answer.

-Matt