Warren wants sheriff more involved in jail discussions

Bourbon County Undersheriff Bill Martin continued his long fight Monday to convince commissioners to build a new jail for the county and this time he brought backup.

Martin, along with Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Jail Administrator Bobby Reed, SEKRCC Director of Security Julie Miller and James Cianciaruso, of JE Dunn Construction of Kansas City, Mo., were present at Monday's Bourbon County Commission meeting to discuss options for a new correctional center for the county.

But According to Commissioner Allen Warren, Martin's coalition was short one important person - Bourbon County Sheriff Ron Gray.

Warren expressed concern that any efforts to convince taxpayers to support a new facility might fall flat without the sheriff's support.

"I think my biggest issue today is our sheriff is not involved in this project," Warren said. "We were with him for half a day on Wednesday and nothing was ever mentioned about this. In the past, he has not been involved. Until you three people get your sheriff involved, it's going to be hard to get people to support this project."

Martin said Gray is very involved, but delegates some tasks because he is busy.

"I believe 110 percent he is involved," Martin said. "Because he's not here does not mean he is not involved in it."

Warren said he thinks the sheriff should take the lead if he believes a new jail is a worthwhile project.

"I believe you have got to have a champion for anything like this," Warren said. "And the champion in this case has got to be the sheriff. He is the elected official that is responsible for this whole thing...I'm not in favor of doing a whole lot until the sheriff gets involved."

According to Cianciaruso, it's sometimes hard to sell a community on spending money on it's correctional facilities.

"It's pretty difficult to make a sale to the public...," he said. "It's a tough thing to talk about because these persons have committed crimes. That population can sometimes be hard to deal with because you have an out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality sometimes, but nonetheless they're still part of your community and you still have to care for them and that costs money."

He said his construction company helps with the public relations end of helping get bond issues or sales tax increases passed by voters.

Commissioner Harold Coleman asked Cianciaruso if he knew what the "cost per bed" for a new facility would be.

Cianciaruso said that can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including what types of electronics are built in. He added that they generally estimate a cost per square foot and that could range anywhere from $250 to $300 per square foot depending on how many beds the facility has.

"The lower number of beds you have, your cost goes up," he said. "The higher number of beds you have, the lower the cost per bed."

Coleman also asked about the "life expectancy" of a new jail.

"We like to see between 30 and 50 years," Cianciaruso said.

Coleman said the jail population has more than doubled since the SEKRCC it opened in 1997. Cianciaruso said if a new facility is built now, it is likely that there may be a need to talk about expansion in about 20 years.

"The important thing is, when you plan it correctly architecturally, and you build it correctly, it's not a $10 million dollar job, it's less than that and it will all integrate with your electronics," he said.

The concern among advocates for a new jail chiefly revolves around officer and inmate safety and the cost of housing prisoners in other counties.

On Monday, Martin presented commissioners a detailed list of what it has cost to house prisoners in Cherokee County for the past few years. In 2007, the county spent $43,000, followed by $109,000 in 2008. In 2009, the total was $44,000 and $72,000 in 2010. Records were missing in Cherokee County for 2011 because of a computer glitch, but in 2012, the county paid Cherokee County $72,000. Those numbers do not include inmates sent to other counties, transportation to and from court or overtime accrued by deputies transporting the inmates.

Reed said on July 5 that the cost could reach as high as $320,000 next year. He said the jail also will spend about $40,000 in overtime transporting inmates back to Bourbon County for court appearances and about $26,000 per year on fuel.

Martin said so far this year, the county has spent more than $105,000 housing inmates in Cherokee County.

Warren asked Reed on July 5 why the total for housing inmates out-of-county in 2012 was so much lower than his 2013 projection. Reed said it was because they did not start housing inmates out-of-county until June of that year. Warren expressed skepticism over whether or not housing inmates out-of-county began in June, or was ongoing in 2012 and asked Reed to check on that. On Monday, Martin admitted that Reed was mistaken --the jail did send inmates to other counties throughout the 2012 year.

The question also arose Monday about what the county would do with the current facility should voters decide to build a new jail. Martin suggested moving the Drivers License Bureau and Emergency Manager's office into the space. He also said it could be used for storing evidence and computer servers.

Warren said he is concerned about the cost of maintaining the old facility coupled with the cost of a new facility.

"It adds an expense to the county of continuing to maintain that plus a new facility," Warren said.

He then asked how long the process would take if a decision were made to build a new jail.

Cianciaruso said he would estimate 12 to 18 months, but there are several variables involved, including how long it might take the community to pass a bond issue.

"The better the plan, the better the communication, the better the leadership on the front end, the more likely it is to get that moved forward," he said.

Warren said commissioners must first finish their 2014 budget before giving the matter any serious consideration in either direction.

In a related matter, County Attorney Terri Johnson told commissioners she is drafting a letter to District Court judges that addresses the increasing inmate population at the jail. She said she is asking assistance from the judges on alternative sentencing.

"I think we should type a letter to the chief judge as well as our two judges," Johnson said.

She also suggested designating one individual that maybe the judge/s could meet with to come up with ideas. Johnson suggested Coleman might be a good person for that because of his background in law enforcement. Coleman, who is a former Bourbon County Sheriff, accepted the responsibility of speaking with the judges about the county's concerns.

"I'm trying to open a dialogue or get suggestions for whatever we can do short term, anyway," Johnson said.

That population may swell more as new sentencing guidelines from the state funnel more inmates into county jails rather than the Department of Corrections.

According to Reed and Johnson, in the future, those who violate probation will automatically receive at least a five-day sentence in the county jail. A second violation is an automatic 120-day sentence and parole violators who previously went to a DOC institution will now stay in a county jail as well.

"Now, they are pushing it back on the counties," Martin said.

According to Reed, about 60 percent of the current SEKRCC inmates are probation violators.