Comments (0) | |

Saturday, Jul. 11, 2009

Jail population surge forcing Bibb to consider new options

A combination of factors has prompted the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office to consider new alternatives to incarceration — including ankle monitors — as the number of inmates housed at the jail nears capacity.

Higher bail bond amounts, an influx of people arrested in a recent federal sweep and a growing number of inmates sentenced to state prison and waiting to be transferred all have contributed to the problem, Sheriff Jerry Modena said.

“All this hit at the same time,” said Chief Deputy Russell Nelson.

In recent weeks, 953 people were housed at the jail, 13 less than the jail’s capacity of 966.

If it hadn’t been for the transfer of 104 inmates to state prison in June, the jail would have been housing more than 1,000 inmates, Nelson said.

But Modena said he doesn’t expect to need to build more jail space anytime soon. The jail opened a new wing, raising the jail’s capacity from 697 beds to 966 beds, in 2007.

“We’re nowhere near having to talk about having additional space,” he said.

Still, to ensure that the jail doesn’t become overcrowded, Modena said he’s exploring a range of alternatives to incarceration, including ankle monitors and a domestic violence pretrial diversion program.

The ankle monitors would be a less costly way to manage inmates by allowing them to go home, saving the county as much as $45 a day per prisoner, Modena said.

The domestic violence program would be patterned after the drug court and mental health court programs already running in Bibb County by providing offenders with counseling and clinical services, as opposed to incarceration.

Modena said he’s also researching an automotive education program to help provide job skills for inmates. That could help them find work upon release.

The jail now houses 92 inmates who are waiting to be transferred to state prisons, detention centers and diversion centers when space is available.

County jail statistics compiled by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs show that as of late last month, more than 5,000 inmates were waiting for state prison space to become available.

Sharmelle Brooks, a Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said the prison system counts only 2,300 inmates in the county jails awaiting space. That number does not include inmates recently sentenced, those waiting to be placed in probation detention centers and probationers awaiting revocation hearings.

It’s unclear how the scheduled closing of Scott State Prison in Hardwick will affect the prison waiting list. That prison, which has housed 1,784 inmates, is scheduled to close Aug. 15.

Brooks said the state is scheduled to open three new units at other state prisons next month, which will be able to hold 768 inmates.

In Bibb County, the average wait for an inmate to be transferred to state prison is about three months. But there have been occasions when inmates have waited six to seven months, Nelson said.

Of the people being held at the Bibb County jail recently, 769 were there on felony charges, 141 on misdemeanor charges and 19 on municipal charges, Modena said.

And its not just a challenge for Bibb County. Other county jails across Middle Georgia are facing overcrowding.

In June, the Houston County jail was operating at 98 percent capacity, according to the state statistics.

Maj. Charles Holt, the jail’s administrator, said inmates there already are being released on bond with ankle monitors, but the sheriff’s office also is considering a work release program.

“The jail is not the be all, end all situation,” he said.

A new 160-bed jail expansion is scheduled to open toward the end of the year, Holt said.

“That will relieve some of the pressure for us, but we need to be looking at other solutions,” he said.

Jones County is operating at about 116 percent capacity, according to the state records.

Capt. Guy Mosteller, the jail administrator, said the sheriff’s office has put extra beds in jail cells to help accommodate overcrowding.

Like Bibb County, Jones County also is feeling effects of state prisoners remaining in the county jail long after sentencing, he said.

Mosteller said the county is considering a 50-bed jail expansion, but no firm plans have been made.

Margie Greene, chief executive officer for Georgia Corrections Corp., a company that performs contracted ankle monitoring services, said offenders sentenced in Jones County already use ankle monitors, and she anticipates the monitors to be used for inmates out on bond before the end of the year.

In Baldwin County, Sheriff Bill Massee said a new jail opened in March and there isn’t an immediate danger of overcrowding. But he wants to be proactive and consider alternatives to incarceration.

For example, the sheriff’s office is researching a telephone monitoring system that would allow nonviolent offenders to be released on house arrest, he said.

With the telephone system, monitors record a voice graph that matches the offender’s voice, and the offender must confirm that he or she is at home by answering phone calls at random times and repeating a phrase, Massee said.

“It would free us up from having to house them.” he said.

Baldwin County also is exploring new ankle monitoring systems.

The county used ankle monitors about a decade ago, Massee said.

“But it was more manpower intensive for us to put them on and monitor them than it was a savings for us,” he said.

Massee said the need for alternatives is becoming more and more important with a relatively new state policy that no longer allows State Court judges to sentence people convicted of misdemeanors to state facilities.

“Now the only sentencing option is the county jail,” he said.

Information from The Telegraph’s archives was included in this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.