Overcrowding in Monroe County Jail could mean federal lawsuit

There are 272 people living in the Monroe County jail, which is only meant to hold 200 people. About 70 people sleep on the floor each night.\nWith this many people filling the jail, Monroe County could face a federal lawsuit because of its lack of compliance with state and federal laws that state all inmates must have their own beds. The sheriff’s department and others want to build a new jail while some in the community think that there are better options.\n“Several other counties in the state are in the same state as us,” said Scott Mellinger, chief deputy for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. “There’s no magic formula to deciding how much jail space is needed.”\nThe sheriff’s department believes that a new jail should be constructed outside of town at the Thomson industrial site. The county commissioners, along with the sheriff’s department, think a new jail needs to be constructed that can hold a minimum of 420 beds.\n“We really aren’t sure if (the new jail) will be big enough to last us the next 20 years,” Mellinger said. “Somewhere between 400 and 450 would be a number that we would support. What you really have to do is see what the community demands.”\nIt’s also important to get trials scheduled more quickly and completed faster, Mellinger said. \nA survey taken by the sheriff’s department to see who is actually residing in the county jail found that more than 40 percent of all inmates are awaiting trial. The rest have already faced trial or are being held for probation violations.\n“I believe courts are getting people through as fast as they can, but prosecutors and defendants could reach agreements more quickly,” Mellinger said.\nOn the other hand, former Sheriff Stephen Sharp, who is also running for county commissioner, has different views on how to solve the overcrowding problem. Sharp proposed that the current jail, which takes up the top two floors of a five-story building, should be allowed to take up all five floors. At the moment, the bottom three floors are court offices, and a small portion of the first floor is the jail. Sharp proposes that the Curry and Fiscus buildings next to the jail should be reconstructed so they can hold the court offices.\n“The current jail is totally paid for,” Sharp said. “It’s overcrowded, but it can be corrected.”\nSharp believes that many of the people who are currently in jail should not be there. About 35 percent of the people are behind bars because of technical violations of their probation, Sharp said. Sharp argues that the jail should also stay in town.\nBut county Commissioner Iris Kiesling disagrees.\n“That wouldn’t allow for future expansion,” she said. “If we build the jail downtown, it’s landlocked. The public is paying for this, and we need to know we are doing it the right way.”\nThe Curry building cannot be torn down because the front is historic, Kiesling said. She also predicted that building a new jail will cost the county somewhere between $25 and $40 million while Sharp believes it will cost about $10 million for his proposition of the jail and another $20 million to take down the Fiscus and Curry buildings.\n“All the people who live in Monroe County pay county taxes,” Kiesling said. “This is the jail for the whole county. Everybody in the county will pay. We need to make wise investments.”\nMark Stoops, who is also running for county commissioner, believes that a new jail is not the best option.\n“The current jail is not in good shape, but when it’s broken down, we can’t afford a new jail,” Stoops said. “If we build a new jail of the capacity of 450, we will fill it fairly quickly. We will have to pay for food and medical expenses and we can’t afford the people we have now.”\nStoops thinks the solution is to work on keeping the jail population down. Besides having a lot of probation violators in jail, people who can’t pay their $500 cash bond must also stay in jail, Stoops said.\n“It seems (it) would be better to use the money for a new jail instead to keep the jail population down,” Stoops said. “Use that money for an intensive treatment center to turn people around or for kids and juvenile offenders so when they get older they can hopefully turn their lives around.”\nPrimary elections for county commissioner will be held on May 6.