By Mike Cason
Alabama Media Group
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The executive director of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama said an order issued Tuesday by Gov. Kay Ivey raises concerns that a backlog of state inmates in county jails will continue indefinitely.
ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield said Ivey’s order, a supplement to her emergency orders on the COVID-19 pandemic, directs counties to hold the state inmates until the Alabama Department of Corrections develops a modified plan for receiving inmates because of the pandemic.
“But there’s no deadline for the department to do that, and the way we see it, the department has no motivation to come up with a new intake process,” Brasfield said. “Because, as long as there’s no new process, the inmates are being held in the county jails.”
The governors’ order directs the ADOC to resume intake at pre-pandemic levels “as soon as practicable” and directs counties to cooperate with the ADOC until that happens.
“Legally and practically, state and county detention facilities act as players on the same ‘team,’ both as a general matter and with respect to the transfer of state inmates in particular,” Ivey said in the order.
The ADOC put a hold on receiving inmates on March 20. Commissioner Jeff Dunn announced the ADOC would begin receiving inmates again on April 20 on a pilot project plan. That includes keeping inmates in quarantine for two weeks after they come into the ADOC.
Brasfield said the ADOC is receiving about 120 inmates every two weeks, about one-fourth of the normal rate, with is about 250 a week, he said.
Brasfield said there are about 3,000 state inmates in county jails. That includes about 1,100 who have been tried and sentenced to ADOC custody, and about 1,900 who were on probation or parole and committed new offenses.
Ivey’s order (attached to the end of this article) lists steps the governor’s office has taken under her emergency powers to help jails with the pandemic. Those include allowing a “summons and complaint” alternative to custodial arrests for low-level offenses and allowing counties to release offenders who violated terms of probation and parole after certain minimum times. She said the ADOC has produced and provided at no cost to counties more than 5,000 face masks.
Ivey’s order directs the ADOC to reimburse counties for housing and medical care for state inmates at a rate determined by the ADOC commissioner based on historical reimbursement rates, plus additional costs from the pandemic.
The order also says county and sheriff employees and jail staff responsible for the custody and care of inmates are considered “emergency workers” under the state’s Emergency Management Act and are immune from civil liability for the death or harm to any inmate as long as they comply or reasonably try to comply with the order.
The ADOC issued a statement supporting the governor’s order.
“Maintaining the safety, security, and well-being of our inmate population, staff, and the public remains the ADOC’s highest priority, which is why it was absolutely necessary to modify our intake process to align with prevailing medical standards and to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our facilities. While the modified intake process has created nuanced challenges for both our Department and the county jails, we are confident this important safety measure was an important step for our Department to take. We appreciate the cooperation of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, Alabama Sheriffs Association, and county jails, and we greatly appreciate Governor Ivey leading the way by working with both parties to identify a solution, as outlined in her proclamation. The ADOC looks forward to working with all parties in good faith, as well as resuming inmate intake rates to pre-COVID levels as soon as it is safe to do so.”
The ADOC said that as of Tuesday 75 staff members or contract staff have active cases of COVID-19. Twenty-seven others who previously self-reported a positive test have been cleared by medical providers to return to work.
The ADOC has confirmed 27 inmates with COVID-19. Eighteen have active cases.
Brasfield said counties differ widely in their ability to manage more inmates because of the restrictions on sending inmates to the state. He said some counties have the capacity and others do not.
The state can use part of the $1.8 billion it received from the federal government under the CARES Act to reimburse counties for the extra costs. But that money must be spent this year. Brasfield is concerned that counties will be saddled with the increased inmate load and costs after the federal help expires.
“Is it acceptable to come up with a reasonable reimbursement rate? Yes, it is,” Brasfield said. “Is it reasonable for the department to say in this crisis, we need you to cut as a little slack? Yes. Those things are reasonable and we are comfortable with that. We’ve been comfortable all the way up until now. But this order, in our view, is very one-sided and has given the Department of Corrections enormous leverage over the county jails. And for that, we’re disappointed.”
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©2020 Alabama Media Group, Birmingham