Caledonia Argus

Houston County has costly shortage of jail space

Posted: 12/30/03

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Limited space in the Houston County jail is creating extra expense for the county.

Thatís because when there are not enough cells available, the county pays to place prisoners in other jails outside the county.

This year the county is on track to spend $100,000 in out-of-county jail costs. County taxpayers paid $23,000 in 2001 and $34,490 in 2002, according to the Houston County Sheriffís Office.

These numbers do not include transportation costs.

The number of days that males and females served in other county jails at the countyís expense has risen dramatically in recently years.

ï Males served 648 days out of county through November of 2003, compared to 90 in all of 2002 and 209 in 2001.

ï Females served 692 through November of this year, compared to 456 for all of last year and 142 in 2001.

Built in 1875, the Houston county jail is the oldest operating jail in the state. The county has been aware of the issues of operating an older jail and has spent the past several years investigating possibilities for building a new one by itself or a regional jail with other counties.

The Houston County jail receives yearly inspections from the Department of Corrections (DOC) to insure that it is following proper codes and procedures.

It was given a 98 percent rating this year, and for several years before that it was rated at 100 percent.

The jail has been classified as a 90 day lock-up facility. This means if a prisoner is unable to utilize a work release program, after 90 days, he has to be placed elsewhere.

This happens often when prisoners spend time in jail waiting for the court to process their case.

Classification limits space

The DOC recommends that the jail have 25 percent of its beds available at any one time.

In the past few weeks, the jail has had only a few beds available and often in cell blocks that cannot be shared by two prisoners.

Classification rules on who prisoners share cell blocks with limits available beds because certain types of offenders cannot be roomed with each other.

For example, a sexual offender cannot share the same cellblock as an alleged murderer or DWI offender. Classification is done for the safety of the prisoners.

The jail has four cell blocks. Three have two cells in each block, and one has eight beds in a dormitory-style block. A cell block is an area with a shared bathroom where prisoners can mingle. At night the cells are individually locked down.

The jail staff is able to get around the classification rule if prisoners are booked in the middle of the night and placed in a cell that has been locked down for the night. By the next morning, the individually usually appears in court and bails out or is placed in another facility.

If there is absolutely no room available, the county can even place a cot in a locked down cell for the night.

The county has had to do this a few times.

Women, new law increase costs

Certain factors are causing the increase in out-of-county jail costs. One is a new DWI law that went into effect in 2001.

Bail is automatically set at $12,000 on the third or more DWI offense or if breathalyzer test results are .20 or above.

Often inmates will sit in jail for a few weeks because they are unable to post bail.

In one recent example, an individual was placed in the Fillmore County jail for 13 days. At $65 a day, and $50 for the cost of transportation, the county paid $900. The person eventually went to court, was recharged with a misdemeanor and then released.

Houston County Jail Administrator Mark Schiltz said by law, the court had to initially set that $12,000 bail even if it was later recharged at a lesser offense.

As noted earlier, the number of females in jail has skyrocketed. And because the county is not equipped to house female or juvenile prisoners, they must be taken outside the county as well.

Many female prisoner are housed in counties that are between 40 minutes to two hours away. If they are serving a sentence, they can be housed in out-of-state counties such as LaCrosse County in WI, and Allamakee County in Iowa.

Juveniles are placed at Many Rivers in Rochester until they are sentenced, at which time they can be placed elsewhere.

Full jail causes headaches

On average, said jail administrator Schiltz, the county will have between six and eight prisoners housed out-of-county at any given time. ìThe state inspector keeps telling us that we can continue to house out and transport, but expenses will continue to increase and the headaches to find room in other jails will increase.î

If Fillmore County jail has no room, then Schiltz begins making calls to find the nearest available jail, which includes Goodhue County, 100 miles away. Houston County also just signed a contract with Steele County, about 120 miles away, for $82 a night.

Schiltz recalls the time there were no beds available in Fillmore or Goodhue Counties. ìEventually we find one, but we may be on the road for 3-1/2 hours.î

In the recent case where five men have been charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, Schiltz estimates that taxpayers will pay $15,000 in this year alone for housing some of the prisoners in Fillmore County. The costs associated with that case will continue to accumulate because the case is taking a long time to work through the court process because of the number of defendants involved.

Some costs are recouped

If a person is convicted of a crime, they are charged $20 a day for being in jail. Prisoners who utilize a work release program have the cost paid up front or deducted from their checks. Those who are incarcerated without work release are billed back after they are convicted.

An inmateís medical expenses cost the county too. While a person is in the custody of the county, the county is responsible for all of his medical needs. Once there is a conviction, the inmate must pay the county back for expenses that were incurred. A collection agency may be hired to assist the county in recovering the money.

The county tries to cut costs by using the public health nurses to treat prisoners for minor medical needs.

Looking at the future

When eight dormitory-style beds were added in 1978, which was the last time it was remodeled, the county was told it would be 20 years left before it would need more space.

At this yearís end in 2003, itís become apparent that the jailís time is almost up.

ìThe county board understands that it has to do something,î said Schiltz.

Houston County commissioner Ann Thompson has been a part of the jail study committee for several years. She said that the criminal justice system has been streamlined. in recent years. For example, the countyís court calendar was arranged so that court appearances for cases from certain cities were held on one specific day of the week. ìWe streamlined it so that we didnít have police officers sitting there every day of the week,î explained Thompson.

The jail study committee has also examined if every option to keep people out of jail is being utilized. For example, the county tries to use work release, and the home monitoring program when applicable, she said.

ìWe donít put them in jail right after they do the crime. Theyíre sitting at home waiting. Some are allowed to do weekends so they can keep their jobs. Some people donít think thatís right but itís a reality,î said Thompson.

Thompson anticipates that within the next year the county board will make a move toward a solution to the problem by hiring a consultant to help determine what it will take to get the overcrowding solved.

If a new jail is built, she said it will likely have between 35 to 50 beds.

The pros and cons of building a regional jail with other counties versus building another county jail is a big issue that needs to be looked at. A new county jail will have its own set of costs such as bonding, interest, paying staff to run it, and money to maintain it.

ìI like the idea of cooperating regionally, only if it doesnít cost us more money,î Thompson said.

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