BY ANDY GRIMM, Post-Tribune
As the county struggles to close a $17 million budget hole and the inmate population swells toward the jail's 1,040-bed capacity, misdemeanor defendants could get a get-out-of-jail-free card.
County judges have met with county budget officials to discuss policy changes that could shave the jail costs by $1.4 million by releasing first-time defendants facing charges for nonviolent crimes, rather than incarcerating them in the lockup at the county government center in Crown Point at a cost of $70 per day.
County judges have met with county budget officials to discuss policy changes that could shave the jail costs by $1.4 million by releasing first-time defendants facing charges for nonviolent crimes, rather than incarcerating them in the lockup at the county government center in Crown Point at a cost of $70 per day.
"We get people in here for suspended drivers licenses that will stay here for days," said Chris McQuillin, assistant to Warden Benny Freeman. "We feed them three meals a day. They get sick, we pay for it."
"We get people in here for suspended drivers licenses that will stay here for days," said Chris McQuillin, assistant to Warden Benny Freeman. "We feed them three meals a day. They get sick, we pay for it."
Those costs are too much to bear for a county facing a $17 million budget deficit next year, said Sheriff Roy Dominguez, who has suggested the cost cuts could help his department escape the full effect of $3.6 million in cuts mandated by the Lake County Council. County courts face cuts that could total nearly $2 million.
By setting new criteria for jailable offenses, and using electronic monitoring bracelets or assigning more inmates to work release, Dominguez believes he and the county courts can save taxpayers millions.
"This is something we've talked about, and I think the time has come," Dominguez said.
Across the state border, the Cook County Jail has 10,000 inmates, and none of them is facing misdemeanor charges, said Steve Patterson, spokesman for Sheriff Tom Dart.
"We are nearly at our capacity of 10,000 and have gone over that in the past and, because of that, do as much as we can to make sure we keep our population down," said Patterson, who said jail overcrowding likely forced the change years ago.
The same concerns earlier this year prompted judges in Marion County to adopt new, lower bond rates to reduce the number of people held in Indianapolis, said Presiding Judge Bob Altice. Defendants who formerly would have had to post thousands of dollars to make bond now are paying a few hundred dollars. The risk of forfeiting relatively smaller amounts of cash so far hasn't seemed to have affected whether the defendants eventually return for their day in court.
"So far, at least, the jail population is down slightly, and people are showing up for court," Altice said.
Judges still must decide what offenses will qualify for book-and-release treatment, a process that has bogged down before, and there are sure to be other questions during meetings scheduled for this week, said County Councilman Thomas O'Donnell, a lawyer.
"They seem to all understand the immediacy of the the budget situation," said O'Donnell, D-Dyer. "I don't think it's going to be that controversial."