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Officials designing ways to meet jail needs
By Jen Scherer
Daily News staff writer
$1.4 million projected to house inmates out of county in 2006
JANESVILLE - While it's hard to predict crime, Rock County officials are doing everything they can to plan a jail that can handle the current, and they believe continuing, increase in the inmate population.
The goal of the planners is that the renovated facility will meet the county's needs for the next 25 years.
Rock County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Robert Spoden said the renovation would provide a 1,001 bed capacity with room to expanding to 1,400 beds if there is a later need.
The existing facility, which would still be used, has a capacity for 477 inmates. Currently, Rock County Jail Commander Barb Barrington said the average daily inmate count is 560 - last week, there were 568 inmates at the jail.
"We've had a peak population of 592 inmates," Barrington said.
Since March, when overcrowded conditions contributed to an attack on a corrections officer, the county has been shipping people to other jails in order to keep the jail more secure.
On average, 41 inmates per day are being housed out of county, and the costs are climbing. Barrington said she tried to forecast the costs of housing inmates out of county for the 2006 budget, and predicting 55 inmates per day it would cost the county $1.4 million.
Spoden said the growing population of the county coupled with legislation requiring incarceration for more crimes indicates the population problem won't go away.
In fact, Barrington said it has been a problem since 1998. That's when the county first started looking at electronic monitoring and implemented a program that would allow people to post bond with credit cards in order to lessen the population. It had an impact initially, but for myriad reasons it is no longer enough.
"It's an unpredictable science determining the number of inmates," Spoden said. "It could change, go down, it could also double. There are so many variables that we don't have control over. All we can go by is what we've seen in the last two to three years. We've seen a steady increase in populations on a daily, (and) monthly basis."
The addition is designed so inmates would reside in self-contained living areas, reducing officer escorts and the time associated with them. Even visitation would be done by video from within those areas.
"Through the use of design and the use of technology, we're building efficiency into the design and with that efficiency, we feel we'll have enhanced security," Barrington said.
Spoden said the reduction of mental health services in the county has resulted in a spike in inmate population. Some people who are not getting treatment are committing petty crimes associated with their illness and, since some have no means to pay, they end up sitting out their fines in jail.
The addition would have room for special needs inmates - an area notably lacking in the existing facility. People come into the jail with a variety of mental problems and currently the only option to segregate them is a string of eight cells in the booking area that are not designed for a long-term stay and which create new problems in the booking area when filled, Barrington said.
"We've seen a change in the medical needs of the inmates too," Barrington said. "Many more are substance abuse addicted and their overall general physical health is in a more dire strait than we used to see in the past."
Now, there are only six beds for male inmates for medical issues which may range from AIDS and cancer to sleep apnea or high blood pressure. Women, who frequently come into the jail pregnant or in need of pre or post-natal care are out of luck.
Spoden said they are seeing more violent offenders as well, and there are currently only eight cells for high security inmates. As a result, the more violent offenders are placed in cells with medium level offenders.
"We believe that had a direct relationship to what happened with the inmates that were being assaulted and having their commissaries stolen," Spoden said, explaining that the offending inmates would have been housed in a more secure area were it available.
Barrington said the schematic design phase is done and architects are working on a site survey. The next component is the design development phase, after which construction documents would be made.
The goal is to take a schematic design with an overview of staff analysis needs to the county board Oct. 27 and see if the board wants to move forward, Spoden sad.
If everything moved forward without delay, the earliest that inmates could move into the renovated building would be late 2008/early 2009.
While firm construction estimates have not been made, reports indicate the jail renovation could cost upwards of $40 million.
JANESVILLE - While it's hard to predict crime, Rock County officials are doing everything they can to plan a jail that can handle the current, and they believe continuing, increase in the inmate population.
The goal of the planners is that the renovated facility will meet the county's needs for the next 25 years.
Rock County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Robert Spoden said the renovation would provide a 1,001 bed capacity with room to expanding to 1,400 beds if there is a later need.
The existing facility, which would still be used, has a capacity for 477 inmates. Currently, Rock County Jail Commander Barb Barrington said the average daily inmate count is 560 - last week, there were 568 inmates at the jail.
"We've had a peak population of 592 inmates," Barrington said.
Since March, when overcrowded conditions contributed to an attack on a corrections officer, the county has been shipping people to other jails in order to keep the jail more secure.
On average, 41 inmates per day are being housed out of county, and the costs are climbing. Barrington said she tried to forecast the costs of housing inmates out of county for the 2006 budget, and predicting 55 inmates per day it would cost the county $1.4 million.
Spoden said the growing population of the county coupled with legislation requiring incarceration for more crimes indicates the population problem won't go away.
In fact, Barrington said it has been a problem since 1998. That's when the county first started looking at electronic monitoring and implemented a program that would allow people to post bond with credit cards in order to lessen the population. It had an impact initially, but for myriad reasons it is no longer enough.
"It's an unpredictable science determining the number of inmates," Spoden said. "It could change, go down, it could also double. There are so many variables that we don't have control over. All we can go by is what we've seen in the last two to three years. We've seen a steady increase in populations on a daily, (and) monthly basis."
The addition is designed so inmates would reside in self-contained living areas, reducing officer escorts and the time associated with them. Even visitation would be done by video from within those areas.
"Through the use of design and the use of technology, we're building efficiency into the design and with that efficiency, we feel we'll have enhanced security," Barrington said.
Spoden said the reduction of mental health services in the county has resulted in a spike in inmate population. Some people who are not getting treatment are committing petty crimes associated with their illness and, since some have no means to pay, they end up sitting out their fines in jail.
The addition would have room for special needs inmates - an area notably lacking in the existing facility. People come into the jail with a variety of mental problems and currently the only option to segregate them is a string of eight cells in the booking area that are not designed for a long-term stay and which create new problems in the booking area when filled, Barrington said.
"We've seen a change in the medical needs of the inmates too," Barrington said. "Many more are substance abuse addicted and their overall general physical health is in a more dire strait than we used to see in the past."
Now, there are only six beds for male inmates for medical issues which may range from AIDS and cancer to sleep apnea or high blood pressure. Women, who frequently come into the jail pregnant or in need of pre or post-natal care are out of luck.
Spoden said they are seeing more violent offenders as well, and there are currently only eight cells for high security inmates. As a result, the more violent offenders are placed in cells with medium level offenders.
"We believe that had a direct relationship to what happened with the inmates that were being assaulted and having their commissaries stolen," Spoden said, explaining that the offending inmates would have been housed in a more secure area were it available.
Barrington said the schematic design phase is done and architects are working on a site survey. The next component is the design development phase, after which construction documents would be made.
The goal is to take a schematic design with an overview of staff analysis needs to the county board Oct. 27 and see if the board wants to move forward, Spoden sad.
If everything moved forward without delay, the earliest that inmates could move into the renovated building would be late 2008/early 2009.
While firm construction estimates have not been made, reports indicate the jail renovation could cost upwards of $40 million.
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