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Hidden with code "Submitted as Feature" |
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News :: Prisons |
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Champaign County Officials Discuss Local Jails; Hint At Expansion, Agree To Gather Information for County Board |
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by Kimberlie Kranich
Email: kakranich (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
28 Jul 2005
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A group of six Champaign County officials met at the Brookens Administrative Center Thursday to discuss "how to handle the jail population and financing options," according to Steve Ziegler, first assistant state's attorney, who chaired the meeting.
The agenda distributed at the meeting identified the group as the "Jail Expansion Project Team." The agenda included the seal of the County of Champaign and the words "Champaign County Board Committee Agenda." |
Mr. Ziegler explained at the start of the meeting that the County Board had not taken any steps to form a committee and that his group was "gathering information for a committee to make decisions." He said that the "board has to decide if it wants a subcommittee and we don't even know if there will be an expansion."
When this reporter asked Mr. Ziegler about the discrepancy between what was printed on the agenda and what he said at the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Ziegler said to "cross out" the title "Jail Expansion Project Team."
"This is a meeting of representatives from the state's attorney's office, the sheriff's office, the courts, the county administrators, and the county board chair," Mr. Ziegler explained.
The facilities committee of the county board allowed the group to form after a presentation by County Administrator Denny Inman in June. According to Mr. Inman, at this meeting he presented information to the committee on the conditions of the jails. The downtown jail was built in 1981 and the satellite facility was built in 1996. Mr. Inman recommended to the facilities committee that they "put people together to talk about the issue."
The people who formed the group that met today were Captain Jim Young of the Sheriff's Office, courts administrator Roger Holland, county administrators Deb Busey and Denny Inman, County Board chair Barbara Wysocki, and Mr. Ziegler. Also attending were audience members Martell Miller, Patrick Thompson, Aaron Ammons and Carol Ammons.
Mr. Ammons asked Mr. Ziegler why there were no African-American members in the group since the prison population is mostly African American. He asked that two of the four African Americans on the county board be appointed to the group if and when the county board makes it an official committee. He also asked that an "average citizen" be represented on any such committee.
Mr. Ziegler said he would consider Mr. Ammons' comments.
The meeting was focused on identifying the information to gather to bring back to the County Board.
"The Board will need a considerable amount of information before it acts regarding the jail population, " Mr. Ziegler said.
According to Captain Young, the county's two jails have a maximum capacity of 309 inmates. He said there are currently 279 people in jail and an additional 40 are in home confinement. The average length of stay in the jails according to 2001 statistics is 58 days, said Captain Young.
The group agreed to gather the following information for the County Board:
路 Current information on both jails including bookings by month, high daily population by month and average daily population by month.
路 Services being offered to inmates.
路 How inmates are classified and how their specific needs are being accommodated.
路 Financial options for dealing with the prison population and needs.
路 The correlation between the numbers of people booked for a crime and the number of police officers on the streets.
路 Data on mental health issues and who is receiving mental health services in the jails.
路 Changes in state and federal legislation over the past 10 years that have had an impact on the jails
路 Data on how comparable counties are keeping their jail populations down
路 Grant opportunities
The next county board meeting is scheduled for August 18 at the Brookens Administrative Center. |
This work is in the public domain |
