1/16/07 Study: Double number of beds at county jail

(As published by Cortland Standard, Corey Preston reporting)

As the county moves forward with plans to build a new jail, a study released this morning concludes the facility would need more than twice the number of beds as those at the current jail.
The $30,000 study, prepared by Washington, D.C.-based Carter Goble Associates Inc., says the jail needs 140 beds. The jail on Church Street has a capacity of 69.
County Administrator Scott Schrader said he wasn’t surprised by the number of beds recommended, although he did describe it as a “cautious” figure. “I was estimating that we’d be looking at a 125-bed facility, so it’s a little higher than expected,” Schrader said. “But I think, if you’re looking at building for the next 20 years, it’s probably better to be cautious than not.”
Schrader could not say at this point how much a new facility would cost, but guessed that the price tag would be around $20 million. The study used a handful of different formulas to project the number of beds needed by 2025, and came up with numbers ranging from 69-179. It found that crowding at the current jail “has more to do with criminal justice practice and policy than historical and future growth patterns.”
For instance, an emphasis on drug enforcement between 2002 and 2004 caused a spike in total arrests in the county to 381 in 2003, up from 233 in 2001, a 64 percent increase.
The total arrests dropped to 289 in 2005 due to lower staffing of the county drug task force, but a renewed emphasis on the task force should increase the number of arrests for the foreseeable future, the report found.
The report also pointed to sentencing practices in the county’s criminal courts as reasons for the overcrowding.
“Local jail sentencing practices has remained somewhat of a stagnant protocol,” the report said, indicating that generally judges hand down one of two sentences for felony cases — either six months of jail time as part of a five-year term of probation, or intermittent, weekend sentences.
Weekend sentencing is a big problem for the current jail, county officials agreed.
“I understand the judges want to have some sort of incarceration as an alternative, but weekend sentencing is a nightmare to manage,” Schrader said. “Frankly I’d prefer the judges sentence to anything other than that.”
Legislator John Daniels (D-Cortlandville), who chairs the county’s Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, agreed.
“Typically weekends tend to be a busier time for the jail, so when you have somebody coming in serving a weekend sentence, that takes up bed space you might need,” Daniels said.
Alternatives to incarceration have been used by the criminal justice system, although sparingly to this point, the report found.
For instance, electronic monitoring program recently put into place has only been used on 12 cases in the six months it’s been available, partially because, according to the report, District Attorney Dave Hartnett “was not in total agreement” with the program.
Hartnett could not be reached for comment on the study this morning.
Schrader said his only concern with building a new jail was that it might negatively affect alternative programs.
“I don’t want these alternative programs to fall by the wayside just because we no longer have a crowding issue,” he said.
Both Schrader and Daniels were hopeful a new jail would allow the county to bring in inmates from other counties, rather than the out-boarding that is costing the county an average of $85 per day.
“We’ve been talking generally about somewhere between a 125- and a 150-bed facility, and the thinking was that, if we have the extra space, we could maybe bring some people in to help offset the costs we’ve been having lately,” Daniels said.
Schrader said he’s been looking at potential properties for the new facility, but has had little luck to date.
A new jail would require between 8 and 18 acres of land and, due to transportation costs, would be located as close to the county courthouse as possible, Schrader said.
Two unnamed properties are being looked at, Schrader said, but both have limited available land. The Rosen industrial site off of south Main Street has also been looked at, but, “The environmental issues at this point are just too much to overcome,” he said.

Other findings in the report:
*Regarding female inmates, who because they must be housed in a separate cell block have contributed to overcrowding at the current jail, the report found that the number of females incarcerated has stabilized at an average of 103 annually. Any substantial change in the population is likely driven by male inmates, the study found.
*While the county has seen a 40-percent reduction in the overall crime rate over the 10-year period between 1996 and 2005, some violent crimes are up, most notably forcible rape crimes, which jumped 62.5 percent, from 16 reported in 1996 to 26 in 2005.
*The average length of stay for inmates hit a peak of 29 days in 2004, likely due to one judge being out of work due to an illness, the study found, but that number dropped to 23 days in 2005, and criminal courts have been effective in completing cases efficiently.

Common Council to weigh space needs

The Common Council tonight will outline two of three properties the city is considering buying to supplement or replace the overcrowded City Hall and Court Street Fire Station. Although there is nothing in writing and no offers have been made, Mayor Tom Gallagher said three properties are being considered as possible options. Two of them will be disclosed during the work session, but a third property won’t be discussed at the request of its owner, he said.
Gallagher declined to release the locations Monday, citing the work session as the most appropriate venue. The work session will be open to the public, but not public discussion. It will be at 5:30 p.m. in the Common Council chambers.
“This is just going to be one of the many work sessions that we’re going to have, because this is one of the most serious decisions that the Common Council will have made in years,” Gallagher said.
City Hall needs about $1.5 million worth of renovations, city Director of Administration and Finance Andy Damiano said, including a new roof, windows and heating and ventilation systems.
The cramped conditions of the Cortland Police Department in the bottom floor of City Hall have been cited by the state, Gallagher said.
The most likely scenario would involve relocating the city’s administrative offices from the second and third floors of City Hall, which would then be converted into a “justice center” housing City Court on the third floor and the police department on the first two floors.
The Cortland Fire Department is also “notorious” for its dire need of a new station, Gallagher said.
Fire Chief Dennis Baron and Police Chief Jim Nichols will present their departmental needs during most of the work session, Damiano said, as will Director of Buildings and Grounds Jim Sponaugle.
The mayor and Damiano will mostly be asking council members whether they would like to build a new fire station — Gallagher estimated the cost could be upwards of $3 million — or renovate and build an addition to the current station.
“Mainly, tonight we’d like to outline why we feel the projects are needed,” Damiano said this morning. “We really have to establish a foundation for the community to understand … that there are some very serious deficiencies in the facilities we currently occupy.”
Alderman Tom Michales (R-8th Ward) said he would examine all options. Taking property off the tax rolls is a concern, he said. “We’re not really pinning down any specific area or structure — we’re looking at all the cost measures to make sure we don’t miss anything, and to keep the public informed as to how we’re going to proceed with this,” Michales said Monday.