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Overcrowding Issues

From legislation intended to combat the issue to how corrections staff can stay safe and successfully manage the problem within their facilities, this page is a key resource for COs everywhere.

State regulators found numerous violations, including rodent droppings and unsecured cell gates during an inspection of Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles
Commissioners want the Idaho Department of Correction to pay counties more to house people who have been convicted and sentenced for crimes, but for whom there is no room in state prisons
In October 2022, there was a daily average of 835 total people in jail; it has increased 32% this year
“The more people, the more tensions, the more risk for individuals to fight, to create other issues in our facility,” Ada County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Shem McCulloch said
The Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center, a five-story jail barge with 800 beds, opened as a temporary measure in 1982 to relieve crowding on Rikers Island
The main jail, plagued by overcrowding, crumbling walls, unsanitary conditions and violence, houses 2,600 inmates in a facility with 2,254 beds
“Prolonged and stalled” adjudication, charges that don’t lead to incarceration and delayed transfers to long-term detention lead to overcrowding at the short-term youth detention center
Until the county gets a bigger jail the sheriff is trying small changes, like serving fresh fruit more often and expanding board game privileges, to keep the peace
County officials say the state’s funding approach will continue to lead to budget shortfalls that limit staff and increase overcrowding
Officials said Billings has outgrown its jail throughout the past decade; that issue has been exacerbated by a chronic lack of detention officers to staff
The average Lancaster County Jail population for this year’s first quarter was 642, compared with 565 during the same three month timeframe last year
The Fulton County sheriff said the three members of his executive team had more than 65 years of collective experience in law enforcement and running a jail
The announcement came after the family of Lashawn Thompson, 35, who was found covered in bed bugs after he died inside the jail last year, called for an investigation
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law that will require anyone convicted of any of 18 violent offenses to serve 100% of their sentences
There were nearly 19,000 male inmates in Alabama correctional facilities in buildings designed to house just 11,000
The DOC would be required to pick up inmates awaiting transport within three business days of sentencing
The legislation would create oversight of the board without taking away its independent decision making process
The suit says counties are unfairly stuck with the costs of housing, feeding and providing medical and psychiatric care for inmates
The order did not attempt to address crowding going forward, as the city and state continue to scramble for alternatives
“The release of this information could allow an individual to anticipate weakness in the infrastructure of the Hidalgo County jail,” attorneys said
A county judge said the cost of expanding the jail would be “astronomical”
Council President Pernel Jones, Jr. called the actions “reckless fearmongering,” and said that the county has all the information it needs to move forward with a new jail
“The building is deteriorating by the day,” Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said. “I’ve been sounding this alarm for 365 days if not longer.”
Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat is pushing back on the need to study the county’s jail population, the offenses for which detainees are booked, and the amount of time inmates are held
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is barred from holding a person in the jail system’s inmate reception center for more than 24 hours
An official said changing the way people address substance use disorder can be a long-term solution for jail overcrowding
Critics claim earmarking stimulus money for new prisons is an “improper expenditure” for the funds
The bond issue is a key funding piece for the $1.2 billion construction price tag
The law, effective July 1, provides judges the flexibility to send all Level 6 felons to the Department of Correction