An Editorial...County Jail Overcrowding
The Delaware County Jail in Jay is in trouble. Too many prisoners, too little space, not enough beds. At times the prisoner count grows to over 90, forcing eight to a cell with four sleeping on the concrete floor.
A state jail inspector says he has given the county 45 days to remedy the situation or face closing or fines of $10,000 a day.
Captain Charlie Melton of the Delaware County Sheriff's Office says the problem has only one solution…build more jail cells. When the new courthouse was built several years ago only 20 beds were added from the old jail capacity, forcing the new jail into an overcrowded situation from Day One.
The prisoner count varies daily…release five, bring in seven. Melton says additional jail facilities can be built on the north side of the courthouse but this would take out the parking lot. A Bond Issue or hike in the sales tax is the only way that funds could be raised to pay for a jail expansion or an entirely new facility somewhere else.
A lengthy trial process, plus overcrowding at the state level make the problem worse.
And many of the prisoners are in jail for failure to pay child support. Loss of job begins the cycle, then failure to make payment, then jail sentence which keeps the offender from earning a living and paying the support. The cycle goes round and round.
The short term solution to the overcrowding, it seems to us, is to release some of the offenders who avoided child support, those who have served the longest time already.
Help them get back to work so they can pay the child support and stay out of jail.
The jail is built for 61 prisoners, today it has 71 and soars to nearly 100 at times.
If we are going to keep the serious offenders in jail to protect the population, we are going to have to find a way to release early the less serious offenders; at the same time, we need to explore ways to add additional jail space.
Melton says he has seen the Arizona tented jail out in the desert, operated by the Maricopa County Sheriff's office in Phoenix.
Hopefully it won't come to that here in Delaware County.
A state jail inspector says he has given the county 45 days to remedy the situation or face closing or fines of $10,000 a day.
Captain Charlie Melton of the Delaware County Sheriff's Office says the problem has only one solution…build more jail cells. When the new courthouse was built several years ago only 20 beds were added from the old jail capacity, forcing the new jail into an overcrowded situation from Day One.
The prisoner count varies daily…release five, bring in seven. Melton says additional jail facilities can be built on the north side of the courthouse but this would take out the parking lot. A Bond Issue or hike in the sales tax is the only way that funds could be raised to pay for a jail expansion or an entirely new facility somewhere else.
A lengthy trial process, plus overcrowding at the state level make the problem worse.
And many of the prisoners are in jail for failure to pay child support. Loss of job begins the cycle, then failure to make payment, then jail sentence which keeps the offender from earning a living and paying the support. The cycle goes round and round.
The short term solution to the overcrowding, it seems to us, is to release some of the offenders who avoided child support, those who have served the longest time already.
Help them get back to work so they can pay the child support and stay out of jail.
The jail is built for 61 prisoners, today it has 71 and soars to nearly 100 at times.
If we are going to keep the serious offenders in jail to protect the population, we are going to have to find a way to release early the less serious offenders; at the same time, we need to explore ways to add additional jail space.
Melton says he has seen the Arizona tented jail out in the desert, operated by the Maricopa County Sheriff's office in Phoenix.
Hopefully it won't come to that here in Delaware County.
posted by Editor | 1:18 AM
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