Build It and They Will Come

Sullivan County, Tenn., sheriff searches for ways to reduce jail population

Sullivan County, Tenn., sheriff searches for ways to reduce jail population

The Sullivan County Correctional Facility is bursting at the seams.

The facility was designed to hold around 600 inmates but routinely houses more than 800 inmates at one time.

The problem has led Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson to look at alternative forms of sentencing. He wants to keep the community safe, he said, but at the same time, he is looking at ways to reduce the inmate population.

“We have had to deal with overcrowding for so many years,” Anderson said. “Every jail in Tennessee is like it. I don’t think you are going to find one that is not overcrowded. If not, , they will be — build it, and they will come.”

This is not the first time Anderson has addressed overcrowding in the jail. It was just six years ago, in 2006, that the Sheriff’s Office completed a $3 million expansion to the jail that increased capacity by 223 inmates.

Recently, the discussion has centered on ankle bracelets. These devices are tied to a global positioning system satellite and track an inmate’s movements. Under the proposal, an inmate would wear the ankle bracelet and be able to serve time under house arrest.

The district attorney general’s office and some judges support the proposal, and Anderson has started conversations with the county commissioners about using GPS bracelets.

Commissioner Mark Bowery, of Kingsport, brought the idea up at a recent committee meeting, saying he sees alternative sentencing as a way to reduce costs at the jail – “I am trying to further the conversation and make sure we have all the information,” Bowery said.

Growth in drug culture

Anderson became sheriff in 1998, when the jail population hovered around 300 inmates. Over time, the population has grown. The main

reasons: drugs and alcohol, Anderson said.

“I would say without a doubt that if there ever is a study done in that jail, I would go so far as to say the reason that 90 to 95 percent of everybody who is in our jail has to do with drugs or alcohol — the abuse of drugs or alcohol,” Anderson said. “People end up doing stupid things on drugs.”

A jail is not cheap to operate. It costs the county approximately $42 per day to house each inmate. It also must pay jail wardens, who make $11.84 an hour to start, as well as clean the jail and provide meals and medical services to the inmates.

That adds up to $7.8 million a year, causing a financial strain on the sheriff’s budget.

— “It’s the biggest challenge that I face,” Anderson said. “The drug culture is bad enough, but all of it leads to the fact that I have to house them. It’s my duty as sheriff to keep these people.”

Besides the county prisoners, the jail must accommodate around 150 state prisoners. These are inmates who have been charged with a felony and are awaiting trial or have been convicted and not transferred to the state prison system.

The county loses money on state prisoners. The state pays the county $35 a day for each state prisoner and seems to be in no hurry to reduce its population at the county jail, the sheriff said. The state can take months to transfer a prisoner after a conviction, he added.

“It causes us to be overcrowded,’ Anderson said.

The increasing population has created staffing problems at the jail. The number of wardens has not increased as the population has grown, and Anderson said he would hire 25 more people if he had the money. But that’s not possible in the current economic climate.

“(The commissioners] would laugh at me,” Anderson said if he asked for more money.

His budget has not increased in six or seven years, he said.

Overcrowding is not just affecting Sullivan County’s sheriff. It’s a challenge for the entire criminal justice system.

“I think judges hold off on sentencing someone because they know that we are overcrowded,” Anderson said.

Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus said he sympathizes with the sheriff but the problem does not play a role in his office’s sentencing recommendations.

“My primary concern as a district attorney is to make sure we have enough evidence to convict,” Staubus said.

Looking at the technology

The idea of electronic, tracking has been around for a long time. The Army developed technology to track ships and planes around 1919, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons study. The use of the technology to track people was first discussed in the 1960s. In 1977, a comic book published a story about a villain tracking Spider-Man with an electronic device. A judge read the story and recruited a computer salesperson to develop similar technology for tracking prisoners, according to the study.

In recent years, the use of GPS technology has led to advancements in tracking technology. Sullivan County is not the only criminal justice agency in Tennessee to explore the use of GPS technology. The Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole began a GPS pilot study in 2005. The department wanted to test the equipment on violent offenders and sexual predators who are released from prison.

_ “We are looking at new ways to do things and use new technology,” said Kirk Smith, Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole assistant director of field services.

The department tested the

equipment in 11 counties. It selected both rural and urban counties, wanting to determine where the technology was most effective.

“We concluded that it was a useful tool,” Smith said. = After a successful pilot project, the department took the tracking system statewide. The device is used on the most “dangerous people” who are released from prison.

“Smith stopped short, however, of saying the program reduced the number of offenders who commit new crimes.

“From a research standpoint, we are just getting to the point where we have enough data [to reach a conclusion],” Smith said.

She said the only real drawback was the amount of data that was collected and the time it takes probation and parole officers to sort through that information. Smith said a program like the one Sullivan County is proposing for low level offenders is a good idea.

“I personally think it’s an excellent tool,” she said.

Implementing the program

Anderson met with Staubus and several judges recently and talked about the GPS program. He is still developing a plan and expects to present the idea to the county commissioners in a month or two.

Besides reducing the inmate population, Anderson hopes to make money on the GPS bracelets. The company that offers the devices, Satellite Tracking of People, charges $4.75 a day per inmate.

When a prisoner is outfitted with a bracelet, the Sheriff’s Office provides certain parameters to the company. Using the tracking equipment, the company makes sure the person reports to work and returns home after work. If the person is outside those parameters, a notice is sent to the Sheriff’s Office, which then gets a warrant for his or her arrest.

Anderson estimates that the jail has 65 to 70 prisoners right now who could qualify for a GPS tracking device. These are people awaiting trial or ones who have been convicted of low-level crimes.

He said serving time outside the jail is a privilege and a prisoner should pay for that right. He suggested $15 a day. It is the same amount that a prisoner pays for work release, a program in which prisoners work a regular job during the day and spend nights in the Anderson said the money garnered from the GPS tracking program would help fund operations at the jail.

“I would like to see us provide ankle bracelets for those that a judge would allow,” Anderson said.

The idea makes fiscal sense, said Bower, who believes the jail should operate more like a business.

“We need to come up with more programs that utilize more forms of alternative sentencing,” Bowery said.

He added that besides the GPS program, he also supports an increase in the day worker program. Under this program, prisoners get reduced sentences by working for the county. They mow lawns, weed and paint. The work saves the county $500,000 a year in labor, Anderson said. sis _ The program was started seven years ago, “If it had not been for that, we would have been so overcrowded,” Anderson said. “They would have had to build a jail five years ago.

That has really been a help.”

Anderson said a final decision on implementing the GPS tracking program rests with him. He has to develop guidelines on how inmates would qualify for the program.

“I want to make sure we have it right before we do it,” Anderson said. “We have already talked to some judges, and they have given some input on what they would like to see. … 1 think everyone likes it, but the sheriff is the keeper of the house. I have to get all the facts and take it to the County Commission. I would take it in front of them to get their approval and blessing.”