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Minnesota county jails absorb state prison populations
by Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public Radio
August 11, 2003

The Stearns County jail now has 24 more inmates than just a few months ago. (MPR Photo/Annie Baxter)

Many reports indicate that U.S. inmate populations are hitting record high levels. Minnesota's incarceration rate remains low compared to other states. But the numbers are on the rise. That's putting pressure on state prisons. A new law will shift some of the burden to county jails.

St. Cloud, MN — In the control room of the Stearns County Jail, a guard watches inmates' movements on a series of TV screens. There's more to watch lately since there are now two inmates in each cell. That's 24 more inmates than just a couple months ago.

Reporters aren't allowed to bring equipment inside the jail, so we can't see or hear what some jail employees say is the most obvious effect of the double bunking. Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner, says the change was immediate.

"What we did notice right away, the most remarkable difference was the volume, the sound level that increased in the unit itself," Sanner says. "It's very loud in there." There are more inmates in county jails for a wide range of reasons. The overall population is growing while courts are handing out stiffer penalties for drunk driving. And the weak economy has an effect as well.

What we did notice right away, the most remarkable difference was the volume. The sound level increased in the (jail) unit. - Stearns County Sheriff John Sanner

Now, a new law involving short-term offenders promises that county jail populations will grow even more. As of July 1st, inmates whose sentence totals no more than 6 months will serve their time in county jail.

Dennis Benson, Deputy Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Corrections, says state prison isn't the right place for people who are only going to be there a couple of months.

"They should be held locally, closer to their community that they're going to return to, closer to family ties, closer to employment opportunities so that they can start to put together their release plan," he says.

So inmates may benefit from this arrangement, because it keeps them near home. In addition, most offenders want to avoid the harder life of prison, where inmates are convicted of much more serious crimes.

But, of course, the new law wasn’t tailored to the needs of inmates but instead to those of the state, which desperately needs to save money.

"After all these years of get tough on crime, the bill is coming due and we're all figuring out how we're going to pay for it," says Benson. "It's expensive to send people to prison as a sanction. And I think we have to measure very carefully who we bring to prison and for how long."

So cost is always a factor. But in some cases, jails have to rent beds at other jails because they don’t have enough space for their inmates. Sheriff Sanner says that's the case in Stearns County. Even with double bunking, there’s not enough space in his jail. That means Stearns County not only had to pay for new beds; it also bears the continued expense of renting beds elsewhere.

"The cost of housing an inmate out [of the county] per day is $55," Sanner notes. “That doesn't take into account the transportation costs and the preparation costs that go along with that. Stearns County was looking at spending in the vicinity of $500,000 to $800,000 if we didn't do something different as far as the bunking situation was concerned.”

Some of the Stearns County inmates are housed at the Morrison County Jail. Morrison County already has some empty cells. And they will add 50 beds that can be rented out. But bed rental isn't an especially lucrative or long term revenue source.

Morrison County Sheriff Mikel Wetzel says his jail won't be able to rent beds out indefinitely.

"What's important for people to understand is that's not a permanent situation," Wetzel says. "That revenue stream will only exist as long as our local count rises gradually or stays the same. At some point in the future we won't have as many beds to rent out because our own count will rise and our revenue stream will be reduced."

When that time comes, the county taxpayer will be next in line to pick up the tab.

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