Overcrowding

A report by a state jail inspector may turn up some shortcomings in the Boyle County Detention Center. That information was given to the Joint Jail Committee when it met Friday. Although the report is not expected for a month, Boyle County Jailer Barry Harmon told the committee what those problems might be. "There may not be any deficiencies, but I wanted to let everybody know, just in case," he said. Overcrowding might be one of the problems, but that issue has come up before.

What goes on at the Boyle County Detention Center generally stays at the Boyle County Detention Center. What's going on at the jail these days is a steadily increasing inmate population that is pushing well beyond the facility's capacity and draining a larger share of county resources, all without registering on the public's radar. "It's becoming such a terrific burden on county governments," said Boyle Judge-Executive Tony Wilder, "and one that is almost invisible to the community.

In an effort to reduce overcrowding at the jail, Boyle Fiscal Court agreed Tuesday to supply ankle bracelets to qualified inmates on a trial basis. The population at the Boyle County Detention Center on Tuesday was 298 inmates in a facility designed to house 225. The jail has been running 60 to 80 inmates above capacity for the past several months. Magistrates agreed to let County Attorney Richard Campbell and Jailer Barry Harmon select a few inmates to be outfitted with electronic ankle bracelets and serve their jail time at home.

STANFORD ? Overcrowding at the Lincoln County Regional Jail has caused some Garrard County prisoners to be released on bond soon after they're arrested, rather than be jailed. The overcrowding issue sometimes becomes an acute problem on weekends, said Ronnie Wardrip, Garrard County sheriff. Sometimes the jail will call late at night on the weekend to inform law enforcement that it cannot take anymore prisoners. At that point, police will try to contact a district judge so he or she can set bond and the prisoner can then be released.

Dear Editor, I would like to voice my opinion about this jail problem of overcrowding. There are people in jail for petty offenses - let them out, this is crazy. Leave the people in there who are truly guilty. But if you have a dirty urine test due to having a tooth pulled - yes, Novocaine shows positive for cocaine - you have to serve 280 days for that. Where's the justice in that? Come on Judge Dotson and Judge Peckler, do the job you were elected to do. Put the criminals in jail and let the petty offenders out. That will help with overcrowding.

LANCASTER - Garrard County Fiscal Court entered into a jail mutual aid agreement with 10 other counties for the purpose of housing the county's prisoners in times of emergency. Garrard County prisoners are transported and housed in Lincoln County Regional Jail. If an emergency arises and prisoners need to be transported elsewhere, this agreement allows Garrard prisoners to be included. The agreement was approved by fiscal court Monday night, contingent upon a specification be added into the agreement that Lincoln County will be responsible for transporting prisoners in these times of emergency.

A new law that goes into effect June 8 could help jailers across the commonwealth with overcrowding problems and over a 10-year period save the state an estimated $422 million. House Bill 463 updates the state’s drug laws by reducing prison time for low-risk, non-violent drug offenders who possess small amounts of illegal drugs. It then reinvests the savings from the reduced prison costs into drug-treatment opportunities for offenders who need help. The law also strengthens probation and parole laws by basing key decisions on the risk posed by offenders and improving supervision, and links offenders to appropriate community resources.

STANFORD - The recent drug sweep in Lincoln and Garrard counties didn't just disrupt the lives of those arrested, it also came as a surprise to Lincoln County Jailer David Gooch. Lincoln County Regional Jail already was overcrowded before the sweep. Now, many of the 125 inmates in the 72-bed facility are having to make due with mattresses on hallway floors. "Had I had advance notice, I could have explored the possibility of taking Garrard County inmates to Boyle County," Gooch said.

Chief Deputy Jailer Cecil Moss was elected Jessamine County jailer Tuesday by a count of 6,871 votes to challenger John Vest's 4,677 votes. "We're happy that it's over, glad that it's done and relieved that the election itself is all complete," Moss said after learning the results Tuesday. Moss, a Democrat who has served as chief deputy jailer for 13 years, will take over for current jailer Frank Hubbard, who decided in January not to run for re-election. "My first plans for the jail are to deal with the overcrowding problem we are dealing with right now," Moss said.

A busy weekend by law enforcement agencies in Boyle and Mercer counties led to overcrowding at the Boyle County Detention Center, which neared capacity. Jailer Barry Harmon said the jail population was at 283 inmates on Sunday, with 112 coming from Boyle and 65 from Mercer. The capacity is about 300, he said. With court appearances and inmates making bond, the number had dropped to 270 on Tuesday, Harmon said. Amy Rogers called The Advocate-Messenger to complain about the overcrowded conditions her boyfriend, Shakain Al-Mujahid, had to endure at the jail.

STANFORD - The Lincoln County Regional Jail dealt with more prisoner overcrowding than had been anticipated during the past fiscal year, but still came in under-budget by tens of thousands of dollars, Jailer David Gooch told Lincoln magistrates Tuesday. The jail housed on average housed 105.7 prisoners per day during the fiscal year, Gooch said, which is about 147 percent of the jail's official capacity. During the last two quarters of the fiscal year, the daily prisoner average was higher - 106.3 prisoners per day in January, February and March, and 106.5 prisoners per day in April, May and June, according to Gooch's quarterly report.

A new law that goes into effect June 8 could help jailers across the commonwealth with overcrowding problems and over a 10-year period save the state an estimated $422 million. House Bill 463 updates the state’s drug laws by reducing prison time for low-risk, non-violent drug offenders who possess small amounts of illegal drugs. It then reinvests the savings from the reduced prison costs into drug-treatment opportunities for offenders who need help. The law also strengthens probation and parole laws by basing key decisions on the risk posed by offenders and improving supervision, and links offenders to appropriate community resources.

The problem is simple, Jessamine County S.A.V.E. Center Director Jenise Smith said. The center is overcrowded with dogs and needs to find rescuers or adoptive families for some or it will  have to resort to euthanizing the animals to help alleviate the overcrowding. Smith sent out a mass e-mail last week pleading for help. And unfortunately, the problem is not too uncommon for the shelter, especially during the winter months right after Christmas, Smith said. Dogs are popular Christmas gifts, but after the holidays are over and the weather gets colder, Smith said she gets fewer knocks on the shelter’s door.

The problem of overcrowding at the Jessamine County Detention Center is one step closer to being resolved after the Jessamine County Fiscal Court, at its meeting Tuesday, approved a bid for a feasibility study on a proposed annex to the jail. The jail has 118 beds but routinely houses around 170 inmates, an overcrowding problem which has been going on for many years, according to Jailer Cecil Moss. County and city officials met last month with officials from the Kentucky Department of Corrections to discuss the feasibility study, which would map out the jail's needs over the next 30 years, not just the current problem.

The Jessamine County Fiscal Court last week, had the first reading of its proposed tax rate for 2009. The court voted to keep the rate the same as last year's rate of 6.4 cents per $100 of assessed value on real property, 16.0 cents per $100 on personal property and 11.4 cents per $100 of assessed value on both motor vehicles and watercraft. Jessamine County Judge-Executive Neal Cassity said the court felt like it just wasn't a good time to be raising taxes. "We decided that with the economy being like it is, that everybody is having a hard time, and we might have to go into the reserve a little bit, but we're going to keep it like it is," Cassity said.

STANFORD ? Overcrowding at the Lincoln County Regional Jail has caused some Garrard County prisoners to be released on bond soon after they're arrested, rather than be jailed. The overcrowding issue sometimes becomes an acute problem on weekends, said Ronnie Wardrip, Garrard County sheriff. Sometimes the jail will call late at night on the weekend to inform law enforcement that it cannot take anymore prisoners. At that point, police will try to contact a district judge so he or she can set bond and the prisoner can then be released.

STANFORD - The Lincoln County Regional Jail has issues with overcrowding and proper ventilation, Jailer David Gooch told the Fiscal Court on Friday. Gooch appeared before the court to give his quarterly report on the jail, including a budget summary and assessment of the issues with the 68-year-old building. According to Gooch's statistics, the jail averaged 95.5 prisoners per day during the most recent quarter, up from 93.7 prisoners per day in the previous quarter. The jail has 72 beds.

LANCASTER - Garrard County Fiscal Court entered into a jail mutual aid agreement with 10 other counties for the purpose of housing the county's prisoners in times of emergency. Garrard County prisoners are transported and housed in Lincoln County Regional Jail. If an emergency arises and prisoners need to be transported elsewhere, this agreement allows Garrard prisoners to be included. The agreement was approved by fiscal court Monday night, contingent upon a specification be added into the agreement that Lincoln County will be responsible for transporting prisoners in these times of emergency.

Fewer drug offenders are going to jail thanks to Lincoln County's fledgling drug court, which has only three participants now but will grow to about 25, said Mellissa LaRusch, case specialist for Lincoln and Pulaski counties. Speaking to the Stanford Rotary Club Monday, Ms. LaRusch explained that drug court is one way Lincoln County is reducing the prisoner population at its chronically overcrowded jail (the county also has recently contracted with a home-incarceration service and is considering building a bigger jail)

Recently, I received a number of letters from a group of eighth-graders describing the crumbling conditions of their nearly 60-year-old school building. Wires are dangling from ceilings, chipped paint lines the hallways, toilets are broken, windows are cracked, supplies are old and outdated and the latest technologies are not available. Do the conditions of our public schools affect our kids' ability to learn? These kids think so. Despite their young age, these eighth-graders understand that their academic performance is affected by factors beyond school curriculum, teaching methods and standardized testing.