Continuing coverage
The Springfield News-Sun has been reporting on overcrowding issues at the Tri-County Regional Jail for more than nine months.
Champaign County has drastically reduced the amount it spends annually to house inmates above its daily limit at the Tri-County Regional Jail — from nearly $300,000 five years ago to less than $3,000 in 2014.
The jail board and administrators credited increased efficiency in the county courts with bringing down the number of people sent to jail and reducing the time inmates spend there before and after court dates.
“I think the courts have been the biggest factor,” said Tri-County Jail Executive Director Scott Springhetti.
Common Pleas Court Judge Nick Selvaggio has been able to significantly cut down the amount of time from sentencing to when an inmate is either taken to prison, taken to a program or released, Springhetti said.
“I kept hearing that people were sitting in jail awaiting the next step,” Selvaggio said. He made it his goal to improve administrative efficiency.
In 2011, inmates sat in jail for an average of eight days between their sentencing and the county clerk of courts getting the sentencing paperwork filed. Now that average is a half-day.
“That seven-and-a-half-day difference is real dollars,” Selvaggio said.
The jail in Mechanicsburg serves Champaign, Madison and Union counties.
Each of those counties is given a specific number of inmates it is allowed to house at the jail on any given day, with Champaign County allotted 52 beds. If it goes over that number, the county is charged a fee of $45 per day per inmate.
Prior to 2012, Champaign County far surpassed the other two counties in overage fees, spending hundreds of thousands each year while Madison and Union counties spent less than $50,000 combined most years.
By 2013, the three counties’ costs were more even, which each spending between $80,000 and $100,000 on jail overages, according to jail budget records.
But last year, Champaign County only paid for 49 days over its limit for a total overage cost of $2,205. In comparison, Madison County paid $171,360 for more than 3,800 overage days and Union County paid $98,730 for more than 2,100 overage days.
“It is a very efficient operation at the present time,” said Champaign County Commissioner Bob Corbett, who represents the county on the jail board as well. “There’s no wait on paperwork anymore. They’re in, the paperwork is done and they’re gone either to prison, to rehab or back out.”
Another contributing factor has been more frequent use of an ankle bracelet home monitoring program, which is funded through a state grant and allows non-violent offenders to stay out of the jail completely, Springhetti said.
Available since 2010, the program hasn’t been used to its full potential until recently.
“The first year with the grant, there was almost over $8,000 left in grant money that had not been used. And last year there was $1,700 left,” Springhetti said.
The program has been touted as a solution to overcrowding at the jail.
Tri-County’s recommended capacity set by the state is 160 inmates — 125 men and 35 women. But with extra portable beds, the jail can house up to 200 people.
The average daily population has been between 160 and 170 for the past couple years, but the jail had only 157 inmates listed in custody earlier this week.
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