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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

County spies way to save jail beds

A committee working to solve jail overcrowding in Hamilton County has come across a simple way to empty more beds without letting inmates out early.

It changed the procedure relating to "holds" by other counties.

A hold means the inmate is wanted by a police agency in another state or a non-adjoining Ohio county.


In 2006, Hamilton County held roughly 1,000 inmates a total of 19,480 days for their crimes here and on holds. Some of those jail days--though it's unclear how many-- were spent just on that inmate awaiting transport to the other agency.

Why? Because the county wasn't holding extradition hearings for inmates until right before he or she was to be released. Extradition hearings are special hearings required before inmates with holds can be handed over to the outside agency.

The practice of holding extradition hearings at or near the inmate's release date has been in place as long as anyone can remember, according to Sheriff's Office Director of Corrections Joe Schmitz, who is on the committee. They've now determined it is legal to hold the hearings early, thereby cutting down on the number of days the person is waiting for the other jurisdiction to pick him up.

So they're changing the policy.

Commissioner David Pepper estimates the change could save the county up to 10,000 jail bed days a year based on the 2006 numbers. Last year the jail housed 878 inmates with holds.


14 Comments:

at 2:57 PM, May 07, 2008 Blogger usefullidiot said...

Thank God sanity is starting to creep in.

 
at 3:45 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

These types of changes should have been done before asking voters to approve a sales tax increase.

 
at 4:07 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

These types of changes should have been done sometime in the 40 years that Heimlich/DeWine/Bedinghaus and all the other Republicans were running the place.

Finally, some sane decisions are being made.

 
at 5:54 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks to Christopher Smitherman and his We Demand a Vote Coalition for giving the voters a chance to decide and the good citizens of Hamilton County for not be scared into voting for a big tax for a jail we never really needed.

 
at 6:00 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank God we can now trample the rights of the accused. Thanks Dave and Todd!!!

 
at 7:32 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

COAST is still TOAST

 
at 8:06 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is a plan- vote no on every levy from now on. Trust me, it works. We voted down the police radios, something we desperately needed, and guess what? We got them anyway!
Only issues that are emotionally charged are presented to us for a vote- mental health, elderly, schools, etc..
Meanwhile they have us steppin' and fetchin' and voting ourselves outrageous tax increases because they know we will do it. What about the firefighters? After the recent tragedy, there were several letters to the paper saying that we should vote for levys, to make sure that our firefighters are safer. Our first responders deserve the best and newest of everything, but we should demand that our "leaders" fully fund these basic services with existing funds. Instead, we will be asked to vote ourselves additional taxes, and money that could have been used for important life-saving equipment will go to programs that have been slowly rotting our neighborhoods.
The failure of the jail tax is a win-win-win. We pay less tax; the jail problems are being worked out anyway; and the commissioners don't have all those tens of millions of dollars to throw at more destructive programs. Try to see how long you can go without voting for a levy, it isn't always easy, but it is absolutely neccesary. Then follow up your no vote by demanding that our government prioritize spending. It's working with the jail tax.

 
at 9:03 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmm.... wonder what other gems they'll find. Si Leis' ego has gotten too big for him to be an effective administrator.

 
at 10:18 PM, May 07, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW, how many more times will Wedamand be proven right? First they find the county has been paying for empty beds, then the city isn't paying their fair share, now the prosecutor's office has been mishandling holds. I swear it's like Christmas everyday for conservatives. Thankfully the Republicans covered for Portune and the Democrats on this, so I don't feel at all bad that I won't be toeing the party line in November. HAD ENOUGH??? Don't vote in November! let McRino and SchmRino face the voters without the fiscal/libertarian conservative vote. Good luck.
Sorry republican party, but the bogeyman isn't any worse than the white hat anymore.

 
at 2:12 AM, May 08, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

~

Hummmmmmmmmmm ?

We wonder why Pa pa Pat wants to talk about property tax ?

Ya think he may know something ?

Ya think there are red-light cameras installed in county offices ?

Hey dusty, Wal-mart Watch~ing ?

 
at 10:47 AM, May 08, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The commissioners were working on these things throughout 2007, and were implementing reforms like this whether or not Issue 27 passed. (The data that led to this change was generated last year!)

 
at 8:02 PM, May 08, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good point, Dewine is in office for four years and never proposed a solution to the jail problem. By the way, where is that plan he promised as he coat-tailed Blitherman, Patton the punk for COAST, and Dapper Dan? The Dewine legency, a long sigh.

 
at 10:06 PM, May 08, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

The DeWine legacy: A jail problem being fixed and $777 million out of politicians' hands and into the pockets of taxpayers.

 
at 11:01 PM, May 08, 2008 Anonymous Anonymous said...

You won't have Puh-Puh-Pat Dewine to kick around much longer! He's been "promoted" out of his commissioner job.

 
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