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Saturday, November 14, 2009 11:00 AM

Jail overcrowding could worsen with rise in crime

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

The Franklin County Adult Detention Center has been overcrowded for two years, Sheriff Craig Davis says.

Davis, with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, said the jail has a maximum capacity of 46 inmates but often is filled with 45 to 50.

“We’re allowed by standards and guidelines to be overcrowded for short periods of time,” Davis said, adding since the downturn of the economy, crime is slightly up throughout the county, which sometimes can lead to overflow at the jail.

Davis said the overflow is a problem, but he hasn’t been able to convince city and county officials that a new jail is necessary.

“We don’t run over very often,” Davis said.

He added that the number of inmates has been up lately, which has forced the sheriff’s office to ship inmates out.

The extra inmates are taken to the Allen County Jail, Iola, to be held, Davis said.  Sometimes, Davis said the Allen County Jail holds as few as three of Franklin County’s inmates while other times, it has housed as many as 27.

“We’re living on borrowed time,” Davis said.

In order to ship the inmates to the Allen County Jail, Davis said the sheriff’s office has to pay $300,000 to $400,000 a year.

“We’ve been forced to ship the inmates,” Davis said.

At the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center, overcrowding is rarely an issue, Ethel Wallace said.

Capacity at the center is set at seven, but Wallace, director of the center, said the center can hold two more for up to 48 hours.

“We have a standing exception with the state,” Wallace said. “That gives us the time to get them moved.”

Wallace said it happens rarely, but if the center is over capacity, they quickly search for other facilities to ship the inmates.

“Usually if we are over, it’s on a weekend and by the time they go to court on Monday, things kind of work themselves out,” she said.

Davis said the adult detention center can be a little bit more challenging to balance when it comes to the general population.

In order to accommodate the spiking numbers, Davis said the sheriff’s office has implemented programs that allow inmates to participate in alternative incarceration — like electronic monitoring.

“I think the number that could be doing time in jail is up a little, but a lot of those are qualifying for alternative programs,” he said.

Davis said there are more than 20 inmates who are out on alternative incarceration plans.

“If we didn’t have those programs, we’d have more in jail,” he said. “We’ve been able to help alleviate some of the problems. Other counties are going to have to look at that.”

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