The Marshall County Commissioners’ room was nearly full Monday night as residents were eager to learn more information behind a proposed jail expansion project that could cost nearly $19 million with the sale of General Obligation bonds.
During the two-and-a-half hour public meeting, Marshall County Attorney Jim Clevenger, Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel, Marshall County Prosecutor Nelson Chipman, Chief Probation Officer James Bendy, and Community Corrections Director Ward Byers all discussed the current situation and measures being taken to reduce the jail population. They answered questions from the public including the use of surety bonds vs. cash bonds to help keep down the population, staffing for the addition, the addition of a fourth court and it’s projected effectiveness, financing and interest on construction of a full addition, programs to assist with mental and behavioral health, Criminal Rule 26 and programs available now for treatment.
Sheriff Hassel said the current inmate population is 250 which is down from its height of 308 a few months ago. The recommended jail capacity is 239. The overcrowding issue has led to the filing of 16 pro se damages lawsuits and 17 American Civil Liberties Union lawsuits. Overcrowding is said to be the driving force behind the idea of a jail expansion.
Drug charges are still at the top of the list when it comes to charges inmates face, but Prosecutor Chipman said failure to appear to court dates is the number one reason why people are in jail.
Chipman and Byers spoke of Criminal Rule 26 and a risk assessment used to potentially place low-moderate risk offenders on a pre-trial release program to help with the population. While not a lot of offenders qualify for that program, it does help as indicated by the officials.
Todd Samuelson and Heidi Amspach from Baker Tilly, and Phil Facenda, Jr. from Barnes and Thornberg talked about the financial aspect of financing a 320-bed addition to the existing Marshall County Jail. Bonds would be sold for the project and would not increase the tax rate. The council would need to decide if the tax rate would be extended through the life of the new bonds through 2040. About $7 to $8 million in interest is expected to be generated over the life of the bonds.
Eric Weflan from RQAW reviewed the options available to the council and commissioners if it is decided to move forward with the jail expansion project. According to statistics provided, the jail could use at least 101 beds to ensure enough space for operations and to ease overcrowding.
Several members urged the council members to review the numbers and see if programs can be implemented before deciding to spend millions of dollars on a jail expansion project.
While there is too much information to share in specifics this report, information in the public presentation will be delivered in a series of stories this week and during the Maximum Impact program on Sunday at noon on MAX 98.3 FM.
