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CLOUDY Temp: 40 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Saturday, December 21, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 22, 2002 Jackson County Jail officials are preparing a legal maneuver to avoid a court-imposed cap on the number of inmates the jail can house. Inmates are regularly released to make room for incoming arrestees. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli County seeks to bag jail cap Sheriff’s office would manage inmate numbers By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Doing away with the Jackson County Jail’s inmate cap is one way to better manage the prisoner population, officials say. County attorneys are working on a motion to overturn the cap, which was imposed through a federal court order in 1987. The motion could go before a judge after the first of the year, said Doug McGeary, an attorney for the county. Jails in numerous locations across the country already have done away with their caps — a move county officials said they have been consideringsince June. "We’re handcuffed in the sense that we manage our jail," McGeary said. U.S. Magistrate Michael Hogan ordered the cap as part of a settlement with two inmates who sued the county because the jail was crowded. But federal legislation passed in 1998 limited conditions under which inmates could file lawsuits against their jailers, opening the door to throw out previous court decrees. "It’s quite favorable toward the government now," McGeary said. The move would allow jailers to determine jail population, free of oversight by courts. The cap requires the jail to dump extra inmates by 1 p.m. every weekday to reach a population of 190 — the number of beds available. But the cap doesn’t hold for long. Typically, almost as soon as it is reached, more inmates come in. "The police do not stop bringing prisoners to jail because we’re at the cap," said sheriff’s Lt. Jim Warren. The jail functions with about 40 prisoners over the cap nearly every day, and releases are not coordinated over the weekend, Warren said. Prisoners often sleep on mattresses on the floor, he added. Approximately 50 inmates are routinely released on Mondays, he added. The number increases when Circuit Court is closed for a Monday holiday. "I can stack ’em like cord wood until Tuesday following the weekend," Warren said. The crowding problem would be compounded, Warren added, if the court begins closing on Fridays starting in March. The Friday closure is planned if voters don’t approve a statewide tax increase next year. With more than twice the number of bookings this year as in 1987, the cap is outdated, Warren said. A release schedule Hogan created to go with the order is no longer followed, Warren said. First cut are prisoners who come in on violations and nonviolent misdemeanors, according to Hogan’s list. However, virtually no one is booked anymore on those minor crimes, Warren said. "We feel that we’re much better situated to handle the jail population than the courts are." The court’s pre-trial release office now takes into account the prisoner’s history and ties to the community rather than basing decisions solely on the crime, Warren said. The release "matrix" was developed by an outside consultant. If the cap were lifted, the jail could "double-bunk" certain areas of the jail, adding about 20 beds, Warren said. No extra deputies should be needed because the only cells that would have double bunks are those that house "low-risk" prisoners such as sex and property offenders, Warren said. For about $1 million, 52 beds could be added to the basement of the jail, which currently houses the sheriff’s department, said Sheriff Robert Kennedy. Sheriff-elect Mike Winters, who takes office in January, said he is in favor of abolishing the jail cap, provided that he has more deputies to supervise prisoners. "People in this county are going to have to make safety a priority," he said. Winters, who brings no corrections experience to the office, has been observing jail operations for about a week, he said. He advocated more jail beds in his campaign, but said that the county also needs to fill all the beds in the Talent Work Center, which has about a 15 percent vacancy rate. The work center is not subject to an inmate cap. The federal order applies only to the county’s main jail in Medford. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] . Jail numbers double in 20 years The number of prisoners booked into the Jackson County Jail has increased steadily over two decades. More than twice the number of prisoners were housed last year than when the jail opened in 1981, said Lt. Jim Warren of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Here are the numbers since 1985: 1985 4,849 1986 5,018 1987 5,235 1988 5,702 1989 5,794 1990 5,954 1991 7,718 1992 8,261 1993 8,587 1994 9,065 1995 9,507 1996 9,482 1997 9,948 1998 10,043 1999 10,170 2000 10,781 2001 9,456 Approximately 8,740 inmates have been lodged in jail through October this year. 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