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# Monroe County jail notebook: Population stays under 229 benchmark, but remains well above sheriff’s 186 figure
- URL: https://bsquarebulletin.com/monroe-county-jail-notebook-population-stays-under-229-benchmark-but-remains-well-above-sheriffs-186-figure/
- Published: 2026-08-23T12:35:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-23T12:35:41.000Z
- Description: This week’s jail count swung from 245 to 224 before ending at 228, which is still below one functional-capacity benchmark. Over 33 days, 299 people left the jail, with a median stay of 3 days. County officials have filed their answers to the ACLU’s federal lawsuit.
- Author: Dave Askins
- Tags: Local Government, #no-inline-feature

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/07/lead-art-2026-07-11-monroe-county-jail-PXL_20260711_120548767-1-1-2.jpg)

B Square file photo of the Monroe County jail on the top two floors of the justice center at 7th Street and College Avenue.

Monroe County’s jail population stood at 228 on Saturday (Aug. 22), nearly unchanged from the 227 people held there that were recorded eight days earlier.

But during the past week the count peaked at 245 and dipped as low as 224\. The population has now remained below one frequently cited functional-capacity benchmark for four straight days.

The B Square has tracked the numbers starting on July 21, when the jail held 247 people. By Aug. 22, the population had fallen by 19, to 228.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/20/6f/206f9007-c0a7-47d4-b87b-686c21961f22/content/images/2026/08/2026-08-22-jail-population-Screenshot-2026-08-23-at-7.05.19---AM.png)

The difference between those two snapshots does not capture the turnover in the jail during that period. Of the 247 people who were there on July 21, 156 were still there on Aug. 22\. That means 91, or about 37% of the people who were in jail at the start of the period had left by the end.

At the same time, 72 people who arrived after July 21 were still incarcerated on Aug. 22\. The 156 people who were present at both endpoints, together with those 72 later arrivals, account for the Aug. 22 population of 228.

That comparison still does not capture people who arrived after July 21 and then left again before Aug. 22\. A total of 299 people departed the jail during that roughly one-month span. Among those who departed during that period, the median length of stay was 3 days.

Over the full 33-day period, the average daily population was about 245\. The highest count was 264 on July 31\. The lowest was 224 on Wednesday (Aug. 19).

That means the jail has now spent four days in a row below one of the two functional-capacity figures that have been cited recently.

In the [federal lawsuit](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-07-10-Complaint-1-26-cv-01460-Grubb-Marrero-council-commissioners-sheriff-jail-lawsuit.pdf) filed in July on behalf of jail inmates, the ACLU calculated the jail’s functional capacity at slightly more than 229 people, based on 80% of what the complaint describes as its available beds. 

Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté has given a lower figure. His July [overcrowding report](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-07-09-Increased-Trends-in-Jaily-Population-sheriff-jail-condition-report-Ruben-Marte-emergency.pdf ) started with 294 reported beds, subtracted housing that he said cannot be treated as general-population space, leaving 233 available general-housing beds. Applying the same 80% principle yields a functional capacity of 186\. 

The answer to the ACLU’s complaint, [filed by commissioners and the sheriff](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-08-05-1-26-cv-01460-commissioners-answer-to-complaint-073111950623.pdf) with the court on Aug. 5, gives the same figure of 186 as the jail’s functional capacity. 

By the sheriff’s measure, Saturday’s population of 228 was still 42 people above functional capacity.

The county council, which is also named as a defendant in the ACLU’s lawsuit, [filed its answer to the complaint](https://bloomdocs.org/wp-content/uploads/simple-file-list/2026-08-21-1-26-cv-01460-county-council-answer-to-complaint-073111980869.pdf) this past Friday (Aug. 21). 

\[[Monroe County Jail Timeline](https://thebloomingtonchronicle.org/index.php/Monroe%5FCounty%5FJail)\]