News > Election 2008 > Sedgwick County

Posted on Sun, Oct. 11, 2009

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Jail sees inmates staying longer

BY DEB GRUVER

The Wichita Eagle

Inmates are staying longer at the Sedgwick County Jail, a concern because time is money.

Taxpayers' money.

Longer stays increase costs for the jail, which asked for $2 million more last week to get through the end of the year. The problem comes as county leaders seek ways to reduce the jail's population after they decided last year not to spend $54 million to expand it.

"Lots of folks are concerned about it," said Robert Lamkey, director of public safety for the county.

Criminal justice leaders met recently to discuss the longer stays, but "there were no 'Aha!' moments" to pinpoint a single cause, Lamkey said.

A combination of factors may contribute to longer stays:

* An increase in sentencing times for certain offenses. That will be compounded in July when enhanced penalties for DUIs take effect

* A shortage of public defenders

* A pattern of delaying court dates because hundreds of inmates are housed outside the county, which means their lawyers can't meet with them as often as they say they need to

* An inability of inmates to pay their bonds.

The average length of stay from January to June this year was 31.85 days, compared with 30.90 days for the same time last year, numbers provided by the Sheriff's Office on Friday show.

County commissioners, who allocate money for the jail, say they are trying to understand what's causing people to stay in jail longer. They already know what's at stake.

They had to transfer $2 million out of a contingency fund last week to pay for the cost of housing inmates outside the county through the end of the year and for medical care for all inmates through year's end. Board member Gwen Welshimer refused to vote to do so, saying the county can't keep giving the jail money.

The Sheriff's Office has the largest budget among county departments. Commissioners last year decided not to go forward with a $54 million jail expansion so they could reduce property taxes.

Commissioner Tim Norton said the problem is mind-boggling because the jail's population changes daily.

"It's like counting goldfish in a bowl, and we're constantly dipping out goldfish and putting new ones in," he said.

'A moving target'

Two factors influence the population at any jail: The number of people walking in the door and how long they stay.

The rate of suspected criminals moving from the booking section of the jail into a cell is declining, Lamkey said statistics show. Alternative programs such as pretrial services, the Sedgwick County Offender Assessment Program, day reporting and work release are keeping more people out of cells.

But the jail's population continues to rise.

In 2005, the jail's average daily population, not including people in booking, was 1,367. It was 1,444 in 2006 and 2007, but jumped to 1,481 last year.

Through the third quarter of this year, the jail's average daily population was 1,582.

The steady growth is frustrating, officials say.

Lamkey said there are several ways to compute the average length of stay for a jail's housed population.

The most simple he's seen, he said, is dividing the number of bed days used in a period by the number of inmates housed in that same period. Using that formula for the Sedgwick County Jail, Lamkey said the total bed days from January to June 2008 was 259,908. For the same period this year, that number grew to 281,514.

"I've tried to analyze it myself," Norton said, "but the problem is a moving target. I suspect some of it has to do with what judges have to do statutorily with certain offenses. But I don't know that for sure."

Norton said he is looking forward to hearing from Justice Concepts Inc., a consultant the county hired to reduce the jail's population by 25 percent. Justice Concepts' 10-month contract expired June 4. It has yet to make any written recommendations to the county.

Commissioner Dave Unruh said everyone would like to see inmates move out of jail faster. In fact, commissioners are so concerned they even kicked around the idea of the county paying for additional public defenders, a cost that always has been borne by the state.

Sedgwick County Sheriff Robert Hinshaw isn't hopeful the jail's growth will end anytime soon. He's particularly concerned about next year.

Beginning July 1, penalties for some DUI offenses will require offenders to spend more time in jail.

Right now, someone facing their fourth DUI must spend at least three days in jail before going to work release — if a judge authorizes work release in the case. After July 1, that will be the penalty for a third-time offense, and people facing their fourth DUI will spend a minimum of six days at the jail before they can move to work release if authorized.

"I would think it would take something remarkable in our community to reverse that trend," Hinshaw said of the jail's growth.

"The trend is ever upwards. As our community grows, we need to make sure the entire criminal justice system, of which the jail is a part, is sufficient to serve the community."

County leaders will meet Tuesday to talk more about criminal justice issues, including initiatives to reduce the jail's population. Justice Concepts will be represented at the meeting.

Commissioner Karl Peterjohn said he's eager for the county to pinpoint why people are staying in jail longer.

"Obviously we want to keep dangerous people off the street," Peterjohn said. "On the flip side of it, if we've got people in there because they don't take care of minor tickets and a bench warrant has been issued, there's no point in clogging up the jail with minor offenses."

'Jails are always going to be full'

Until recently, the Sedgwick County Public Defender's Office was down three lawyers, said chief Steve Osburn.

Stimulus grants allowed the office to hire two new public defenders. One has started work, and another will start by the end of the year. The two new positions are funded through June 2011.

The office has been losing public defenders by attrition since last November, Osburn said. Because of state budget cuts, "We weren't allowed to replace them."

With the new lawyers, the office will have 23 public defenders, "if we don't lose any more," he said. But because public defenders' salaries fall below that of prosecutors and private lawyers, many opt to leave after a few years, he said.

Osburn said his office also is short two investigators and a secretarial position.

Osburn suspects his staff shortage has affected the length of time some inmates spend in jail, but he — like others — doesn't think it's the only factor.

"We see people as much as we can," Osburn said. "Unfortunately, the case load keeps going up every year. You just can't do the same amount of work with the same amount of staff because the workload goes up. We're doing the best we can."

Osburn's office has an average of 1,300 to 1,500 felony cases open at any given time, he said.

"A year ago, it was just a little bit less," he said. "Five years ago, it was quite a bit less."

The office's workload is compounded because more than 400 of Sedgwick County's inmates are housed at other facilities across the state, he said.

"That slows us down a lot," he said.

Because public defenders can't meet with their clients as frequently as they'd like, they often must file for a continuance in the case. Then the same defendant is sent back to the same place outside Sedgwick County, and the cycle starts over.

"But they can only keep so many here," he said.

Osburn serves on the county's Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, but he said he often can't go to meetings because of his workload. Building onto the jail isn't the answer, he said.

"This is my third public defender office," he said. "It's been my experience that when you build a new jail, it's full within 'X' number of weeks. No matter how much jail space you build, the courts will fill them up.

"Our system of incarcerating people is not working. Crime is not going down. As long as we have an incarceration system, the jails are always going to be full."

Reach Deb Gruver at 316-268-6400 or dgruver@wichitaeagle.com.