Monroe County declares jail-overcrowding emergency, sheriff preps to move up to 100 inmates

Monroe County commissioners passed a resolution declaring a jail-overcrowding emergency on Thursday (July 9), after sheriff Ruben Marté told them the county has reached the point where it should prepare to move 50 to 100 inmates to other county jails.

“We have to do it now,” Marté said.

The commissioners voted 2–0 during a work session following their regular meeting to approve a resolution acknowledging the emergency and directing county lawyers to help negotiate agreements with surrounding counties. The tally did not add to 3, because Lee Jones was absent from the work session. The resolution is expected to return for ratification at the next meeting of the commissioners, on July 16.

Marté’s 16-page report, with an separate appendix, says that although the downtown jail lists 294 beds, only 233 are available for general housing. Applying an 80% threshold needed to maintain enough flexibility to separate inmates by security level, sex, medical and mental health needs and other factors puts the jail’s functional capacity at 186, according to the report.

The jail averaged 244 inmates from January through June, the report says. The June average was 260, with a peak of 275, which is 89 above the sheriff’s functional-capacity figure.

The aging building has added to the urgency. During the recent heat wave, jail staff said some cells reached 85F° to 90F°, forcing them to leave cell doors open and use large fans, ice and other measures to keep inmates cool. Commissioner Julie Thomas said before the vote that the declared emergency was not limited to the heat wave and was expected to continue until a replacement jail opens.

The sheriff’s preliminary cost estimate puts the first-year expense of housing and transporting inmates elsewhere at between $2.94 million and $5.09 million, depending on whether 50 or 100 inmates are moved and what other counties charge. The plan calls for 14 to 17 transport officers, as well as supervisors and administrative staff, plus seven vehicles.

To execute the plan for significant transport of prisoners out of the jail, the sheriff’s next stop is the Monroe County board of judges, followed by the county council, which would have to provide funding. The council will also be considering requests for additional staff in the context of a hiring freeze that has been in place since last year, because of an uncertain financial stemming from changes in property tax laws approved by the state legislature.

Jail commander Kyle Gibbons told commissioners on Thursday he has already spoken with circuit court judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff, and reported that the judges have already been doing what they can to move people out of the jail, when public safety allows it.

At the same time, the sheriff’s office and county lawyers will have to work with other county facilities on housing agreements. The resolution approved by commissioners commits them to act on those agreements without unnecessary delay after any required court approval.

The emergency plan comes as a city-county committee (called the Collaborative Justice Project Working Subcommittee) works toward a July 13 deadline to make recommendation for a new jail site, after the county council twice rejected the North Park location, which is still preferred by county commissioners. The subcommittee’s penultimate meeting is set for Thursday night (July 9) at 6 p.m.

The emergency plan also comes a month after a federal judge dismissed the jail-conditions case first filed in 2008. The dismissal now leaves room for new litigation over current conditions.

The text of the resolution, as Thomas read into the record Thursday, was:

Now therefore:

1. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners formally acknowledges that Monroe County is experiencing a significant jail overcrowding emergency, and that the current jail facility continues to deteriorate, creating operational, safety, and constitutional concerns requiring immediate attention.

2. The board acknowledges that, while the Monroe County Jail contains approximately 233 general housing beds, the sheriff’s office has established the functional capacity of the facility at approximately 186 beds, based upon correctional operational requirements.

3. The Monroe County Attorney or other designated legal counsel for the county is asked to immediately assist the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in preparing, negotiating, and finalizing interlocal agreements, housing agreements, and any other contracts necessary to house Monroe County inmates in surrounding county correctional facilities.

4. Upon completing such agreements and following any required approval by Monroe County courts, the board commits to considering and acting upon those agreements without unnecessary delay.

5. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners encourages county council to identify county fund or funds available to finance this emergency operational plan, including inmate housing, transportation, medical, and associated operational costs, and to identify the current available balances of such funds as part of the county’s implementation strategy.

6. The board affirms that these emergency operational measures are intended solely to maintain constitutional jail operations, protect the health and safety of inmates and staff, reduce legal liability to Monroe County, and preserve public safety until a permanent replacement correctional facility is constructed and placed into service.

7. The Monroe County Board of Commissioners commits to working collaboratively with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe County Courts, and other affected government agencies to implement these emergency measures as expeditiously as practical.

8. Nothing contained in this resolution shall be construed as limiting or replacing Monroe County’s ongoing responsibility to pursue, finance and construct a long-term replacement correctional facility capable of meeting the present and future correctional needs of Monroe County.

The commissioners are expected to ratify the resolution at their next regular meeting, given that they approved it at a work session, when it did not appear on the agenda.

[Monroe County Jail Timeline]