Overcrowding burdens

Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer

January 22, 2008 08:09 am

— The population at the Madison County Detention Center was 190 on Monday, which is not too bad considering that the facility can hold up to 195 inmates, said Madison Jailer Ron Devere.
“That’s because of the holiday season,” he said. “The judges reduce some sentences and probate some people they normally wouldn’t have. They get in the holiday spirit.”
However, that spirit eventually descends and the facility will begin to see an overflow of inmates as soon as the weather starts to get a little warmer, Devere said.
The facility’s average population is about 230, Devere said.
“Throughout the state, more people are being paroled and all of this is coming down to the overcrowding issue,” Devere said. “Inmates have a better chance for parole and shorter sentences. On average, if you get a one-year sentence, you can serve it out in eight months and that’s because they’re trying to get them out earlier.”
The facility will continue to struggle with overcrowding until an expansion occurs and budget restraints are inevitable, but detention center personnel always are thinking of ways to make the best of the situation.
Overcrowding also is stressful for inmates and creates more violent situations, but for those who refrain from violence and unacceptable behavior do not go unrecognized. Some are even allowed to continue their education by using the detention center’s 15-year-old GED (General Education Diploma) program and its library with an extensive collection of donated books.
“We try to offer this program to those with a long-term sentence and not someone who’s just going to be here 30 days,” Devere said.
Inmates who receive their GED get 60 days taken off their sentence, which is one aspect that helps draw inmates into the program.
In Devere’s 16 years of being Madison County jailer, he admits that he has not seen many inmates utilize their degree, but he still has hope.
“My philosophy is that if it helps one person get a job and stay out of trouble, then it was worth it,” he said.
However, for those inmates who are not able to take part in some of the detention center’s opportunities, they must remain housed inside a usually overcrowded cell, which can call for some risky situations, Devere said.
When too many inmates occupy one cell, there are more fights and more tension, he said.
“There’s one commode, one shower and you have more people fighting about that. It’s a very dangerous situation when you send in two deputies in there to break things up.”
Another effort to help decrease the amount of inmates in county jails cuts funding from the facility’s annual operating budget. The only choice jailers have is to ship out the jails main moneymaker -- state inmates.
“We’ve probably transferred about 20 state prisoners out of here in the past three weeks,” he said. “We’re not allowed to move county inmates.”
As of Thursday, the detention center was housing 60 state inmates, which yield $30.94 each per day. The facility rarely houses federal inmates, Devere said.
The federal government pays $40 or more per day for federal inmates.
“The secret to (funding for) jails is trying to hold as many state inmates as you can,” he said.
Even though little can be done right now to fix the overcrowding issue, efforts are being made to bring more money to the county’s jails.
Members of the Kentucky Jailers Association will be lobbying in the 2008 General Assembly for an increase in the amount paid to county jails to hold a state prisoner.
The detention center lost a large amount of funding in 2006 when juveniles no longer could be housed at the facility.
The jail lost about $160,000 from its annual operating budget when that happened.
State inmates could make up the monetary loss from losing juvenile housing, but the chances of this happening for the Madison County Detention Center does not look good, Devere said.
Even though housing more state inmates would overall increase the annual operating budget, there is a potentially long period where the inmate must be housed, but no money is coming in from the state, Devere said.
The state corrections department only pays for the inmate beginning on the first day of his or her sentencing, however, the Kentucky Jailers Association is pushing the state to pay for the inmate’s stay while waiting for a sentence after being convicted.
“They (the inmates) can go plead guilty and the judge can hold there here for 30 days,” Devere said. “We have legislation now trying to get us money from the time they plead guilty.”
Otherwise, the jail begins to receive funding only when the inmate has received his or her official sentence.
The Kentucky Jailers Association also will take on lobbying for speedier trails and more affordable bonds.
The Kentucky Department of Corrections is asking the legislature for $75 million to expand existing prisons which would add up to about 2,000 more beds.
The main problem standing in the way of the county detention center’s expansion is The Miller Building that stands next door to the jail, Devere said.
“The Historical Society didn’t want anything done with this building,” Devere said. “The only recourse the county has is to build around it and that’s not going to give us the beds we need.”
The jail should ideally have about 350 beds, he said.
“We don’t have that many inmates, but that gives us more room to classify our inmates. You have your violent offenders, sexual offenders, alcohol and drug offenders and those with medical problems. Classifying inmates is a big thing, and when you don’t have the space, that could cause problems. We have to keep our sex offenders in protective custody. We also wouldn’t have to move people around as much and could have more room to hold more state and federal inmates.”
The Madison Fiscal Court allotted $500,000 in its 2007-08 fiscal year budget to go toward jail operations, and the state pays a monthly amount of about $21,000, Devere said.
“We get no federal funding whatsoever,” he said.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com