2008 Woodie Awards
Still no room in the jail
Kurtis Hiatt - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: Metro
The jail is overcrowded.
That's what leads every report from jail officials to update the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on the status of the county jail, Supervisor Sally Stutsman said.
"[Officials] do a good job of managing with what they have right now," she said. "But they are constantly reminding us: This is not getting any better. This situation is not going away."
Jail officials are going to have to wait at least a couple more years before they see any changes, as the price tag could be between $40 million and $50 million and voters have rejected a new jail before, supervisors said.
The Johnson County Jail was originally built to house 46 inmates, then was "double-bunked" to hold 92, though all resources - including the kitchen, laundry room, and exercise room - remained the same size. Today, the jail houses roughly 80 inmates during the day, but that figure can bulge to more than 100 at night, said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.
Such a high concentration of inmates reflects national incarceration trends. According to a report released Feb. 28 from the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project, one in every 100 adults in America - more than 2.3 million at the start of 2008 - are in jail or prison. This is the highest ratio in history, according to a news release from the center.
In Johnson County, officials said they have been able to divert a number of possible inmates to such alternatives as treatment centers, though there are still a large number of violent criminals whom, Pulkrabek said, "society needs to fear" and should lock up.
The next step for discussing building a new jail rests now on a report this spring from a consulting company that is exploring space and location options for the project, including the possibility of a justice center, Supervisor Terrence Neuzil said.
The justice center would combine cells and courthouse functions in one building; Neuzil said the courthouse is also running out of space.
That's what leads every report from jail officials to update the Johnson County Board of Supervisors on the status of the county jail, Supervisor Sally Stutsman said.
"[Officials] do a good job of managing with what they have right now," she said. "But they are constantly reminding us: This is not getting any better. This situation is not going away."
Jail officials are going to have to wait at least a couple more years before they see any changes, as the price tag could be between $40 million and $50 million and voters have rejected a new jail before, supervisors said.
The Johnson County Jail was originally built to house 46 inmates, then was "double-bunked" to hold 92, though all resources - including the kitchen, laundry room, and exercise room - remained the same size. Today, the jail houses roughly 80 inmates during the day, but that figure can bulge to more than 100 at night, said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.
Such a high concentration of inmates reflects national incarceration trends. According to a report released Feb. 28 from the Pew Center on the States' Public Safety Performance Project, one in every 100 adults in America - more than 2.3 million at the start of 2008 - are in jail or prison. This is the highest ratio in history, according to a news release from the center.
In Johnson County, officials said they have been able to divert a number of possible inmates to such alternatives as treatment centers, though there are still a large number of violent criminals whom, Pulkrabek said, "society needs to fear" and should lock up.
The next step for discussing building a new jail rests now on a report this spring from a consulting company that is exploring space and location options for the project, including the possibility of a justice center, Supervisor Terrence Neuzil said.
The justice center would combine cells and courthouse functions in one building; Neuzil said the courthouse is also running out of space.
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