Why Is The Jail So Crowded?

Misdemeanor and low risk inmates at the Alachua County jail pass the time lying in bunks inside pod 3G Tuesday, July 30, 2003. According to Sgt. Keith Faulk of the Alachua Sheriff's department each pod should hold 72 inmates but are now running with about 85 to 90 inmates on any given day.

Derrick V. Howard, 29, was on probation for stalking when he bounced a $13.83 check, and he ended up in jail.

For Tonya V. Flowers, 23, on probation for possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia, a positive drug test landed her behind bars.

Arvey Q. Bass, 42, was jailed for failing to pay $253 in fines he received for leaving the scene of an accident.

The stories of these Gainesville residents are typical of people jailed for violating probation, in part leading to an Alachua County jail bursting with inmates. The jail set a record last month with 1,081 inmates - 300 above capacity.

Alachua County commissioners voted this month to build a barracks-style addition to the jail, costing up to $2 million. But some officials say overcrowding will continue to be a problem under a statewide policy, which requires probation violators to be jailed for even minor offenses.

The change has meant an additional 100 inmates in the jail each day, County Manager Randy Reid said. The county is asking the area's state lawmakers to consider legislation to change the policy, but he acknowledged it may be a tough sell.

"It's very hard to take a political stand that's anything that appears to be coddling criminals," he said.

The state Department of Corrections ordered the zero-tolerance policy to be enforced after several high-profile murders last year - including 11-year-old Carlie Brucia - were allegedly committed by people who had committed probation violations but weren't jailed.

While judges and probation officers used to have options other than jail for violations such as failed drug tests and missed appointments, violators are now required to be arrested on the spot.

In Alachua County, the policy has caused a jail population that drifted between 750 and 950 inmates on average from 2002-2004 to shoot beyond 1,000 inmates this year.

About one-third of those inmates are there for probation violations, according to a count of the jail provided last month to the local Jail Assessment and Recommendations Task Force, a group of criminal justice officials that studies jail issues.

Overflow inmates must now sleep on portable plastic beds in halls and other available space. Reid said those conditions put the county at risk of a costly lawsuit.

"If someone sues the county for conditions at the jail, it is the residents that pay," he said.

Legal action has forced previous action on the jail. A 1989 court order involving the overcrowded old jail led to the new facility being built in the early 1990s.

"All we did is outgrow our jail," said Jeanne Singer, a jail task force member and chief assistant state attorney for the six-county judicial circuit that includes Alachua County.

She defends the zero-tolerance policy, saying it can be linked to a drop in the county's crime rate in the first six months of this year.

"Probation is a privilege," she said. "Eventually people have to be held accountable."

Others say the policy has cast too wide a net. Retired Circuit Court Judge Larry Turner said the "draconian" policy prevents judges and probation officers from using their judgment, turning them into mere paper-pushers.

"We should go back to having them do their jobs," said Turner, a former task force member who went into private practice after retiring from the bench last year.

But the perception that a judge and probation officers didn't do their jobs in two high-profile cases last year inspired the crackdown.

Brucia was murdered in February in a case that has received national media attention. The man now on trial for committing the crime, Joseph Smith, faced jail the previous month for failing to pay fines and court costs, but a judge allowed him to remain free. The next month, the state Department of Corrections started enforcing its zero-tolerance policy requiring people to be jailed for even minor probation offenses.

In August 2004, four men and two women were killed in a fight in Deltona over a stolen video-game system. One of the men, who has since pleaded guilty for the crime, Troy Victorino, was arrested just weeks before the murders for a fight. But probation officers failed to file paperwork asking that he be jailed until hours after the killings.

Within weeks, the corrections department started pushing for probation officers to have police make warrantless arrests of violators. A failed drug test now means the violator can be sent to jail on the spot, rather than having a probation officer make a recommendation that is considered by a judge.

The policy has had a statewide impact, though some counties say it has affected their jails more than others. In Marion County, officials say longer sentences and a 20-year-old jail are the main reasons for a jail expansion being completed next year.

In Columbia County, Sheriff Bill Gootee said probation violators now make up nearly half the jail population, leading to his request for another judge to hear them.

State Department of Corrections spokesman Robby Cunningham said the program has worked to help protect the public.

"The bottom line is public safety," he said.

But Turner said the policy keeps police officers from dealing with more serious problems by requiring them to arrest minor violators.

"Now you're taking up the parole officer's time, the police officer's time," he said.

Those violators are forced to miss work and often lose their jobs, he said, which makes it more difficult for them to again contribute to society.

Singer counters, "That position allows these offenders to continue to steal, burglarize, use drugs and commit other offenses."

Even something as seemingly minor as a failed drug test is an indicator the person was associating with criminals or committing criminals acts, she said.

Reid said the county should be able to deal with those violations without filling jail beds.

Everything from putting violators on house arrest to sending those with mental health or substance abuse problems to alternative facilities should be looked at to reduce overcrowding, he said.

Turner said no matter how hard the state cracks down on probation violations, high-profile crimes will continue to happen.

"Unless we simply lock up everybody - and it certainly looks like we might be headed in that direction," he said.

Nathan Crabbe can be reached at 352-338-3176 or crabben@gvillesun.com

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