Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office gets more funding to deal with jail population increase

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office gets more funding to deal with jail population increase

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office gets more funding to deal with jail population increase

Sedgwick County commissioners have agreed to provide more funding to the Sheriff’s Office to deal with increasing costs from an increasing number of inmates in the county jail.

Sheriff Jeff Easter told commissioners Wednesday that the average daily population has gone up to numbers that haven’t been seen since 2009.   He said as of Wednesday it was 1,521 inmates.  Easter said the increase is due to a spike in violent crime and there has also been a slowdown in dealing with probation violations.   He said probation cases are now taking three weeks to a month-and-a-half to get to a hearing before a judge, and the court system is working to try to speed things up.   Easter said 68 percent of the inmate population is for violent felonies or probation violations.

The sheriff said the jail has had to replace tile flooring in the inmate pods, because inmates were tearing pieces of flooring and making them into weapons.  He said inmates have to be moved out of a pod for that work to be done, and those inmates are moved to other counties temporarily.   He said the flooring replacement project should be completed in March, 2020.   In the meantime, he said staff has been working to add 63 beds to the jail to add to different pods and provide more space for inmates.

Easter said the increase in inmate numbers has also resulted in higher costs for food and health services, and overtime costs have been up 13.6 percent.

The sheriff said there are discussions about mental health and substance abuse, and there have also been talks on gang issues and domestic violence, and he hopes this will lead to reductions in the inmate population.    He said a lot of criminal activity is being driven by methamphetamine use, and until that issue is resolved, the current trends will continue.  Easter also said that the workforce is starting to stabilize in the sheriff’s office, with the recruitment of more detention deputies.

Commissioner Jim Howell suggested that the jail might need a budget adjustment for 2020, but Easter said it would be best to wait and see if the additional beds and other steps will help with the jail situation.

Commissioners voted unanimously to provide $2.6 million from the county’s operating reserve fund to the Sheriff’s Office to deal with the higher inmate numbers.

 

 

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