When Sheriff Mike Hasler started his law enforcement career nearly 40 years ago, the old Greene County Jail had maybe six or seven inmates behind bars at a time.
These days, the current jail in Bloomfield, built to house 68, has a daily population averaging 85 people.
So when county officials decided to add space to the jail, they planned for the future. After soliciting data and insights from local criminal justice and probation employees, and getting an analysis from a consultant who specializes in jail issues, they voted to go big.
The jail’s inmate capacity will triple when a 202-bed expansion is completed. Construction started in February, and the pod-based jail addition should be ready for occupants in March. The cost: $14.8 million.
Concerns about jail overcrowding arose last year when the inmate population was steady at more than 100. Hasler said that a great increase in people suffering from mental health issues, along with more people with addictions, is taxing the county’s ability to take care of those in custody.
“All the sheriffs talk about it, how the lack of mental health care is tearing us up,” he said.
“They closed the mental health facilities and now, for many people, jail is the only answer when they go out and do things that get them arrested,” the sheriff said. “The jails are becoming the biggest mental health care providers in the state.”