Monroe County jail notebook: Population trends upward, hits 264 as short stays drive churn

Monroe County’s justice building was again open on Friday (July 31) after being closed for the first four days of the week, due to a sewer backup that started a week earlier on July 24.

During that time, the jail was still functioning, along with the courts. The presiding judge of the Monroe County circuit court, Mary Ellen Diekhoff, told the county council at their Tuesday (July 28) meeting that despite the closure of the building, the courts continued to operate in a minimalistic way. Probable‑cause reviews and jail releases were continuing, Diekhoff told councilors.

Even though jail releases were continuing, based on a B Square review of jail population numbers from the Monroe County sheriff’s office, the jail is seeing an increasing trend in its population over the last 11 days.

The jail population increased from 247 people on July 21 to 264 on July 31. That’s a net gain of 17, or about 7%. Daily totals generally trended upward during that period, despite dips on July 25 and July 29.

The current population is well above either of the two numbers that have been cited recently as the functional capacity of the jail. A report in the second week of July from Monroe County sheriff Ruben Marté put the functional capacity of the jail facility at 186 beds. That’s lower than the 229 beds that are cited as the jail’s functional capacity in the ACLU’s new federal complaint that has been filed against Monroe County officials on behalf of two inmates there.

The net population increase of 17 people doesn’t reflect the flow in and out of the jail during the period.

Of the 247 people who were confined on July 21, 213 (86%) were still in jail on July 31. Of that original group, 34 had left. But 51 people who were booked into jail after July 21 remained confined at the end of the month.

But comparing the two dates 11 days apart does not capture the full picture of the turnover. A total of 70 people left jail during the 11-day period, including some who entered after July 21 and were released before July 31. Their median length of stay was just one day. That means at least half of them (35 people) were held for one day or less.