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Declining county inmate populations and upcoming state bail reforms credited for jail closure

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Illinois

* Alicia Fabbre at the Daily Herald last week…

In what is believed to be a first-of-a-kind proposal in the state, the Kendall County jail would close and arrestees picked up in Kendall County would be sent to the Kane County jail if they need to be held.

The proposal, announced by Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain and Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird Wednesday during a news conference, could save Kendall County as much as $1.5 million and bring in around the same in additional revenue in Kane County. […]

“The fact is, our jail populations are down from where they were five years ago,” Baird said, noting that he has seen the Kendall County inmate population drop from an average of more than 70 in 2014 to current levels of around 50. Hain said when he first took office in 2018, the Kane County jail was averaging about 500 inmates daily. On Wednesday, the jail had 320 in custody. […]

Under the proposed plan, up to 30 corrections officers positions would be eliminated in Kendall County. However, both Hain and Baird noted Kendall County corrections officers could find positions in neighboring counties.

* The Daily Herald editorial board approves…

Illinois, you might recall, has more units of government than any other state — even though it’s only the sixth most populous state. And that means government in Illinois provides some things other states do not — or it hasn’t figured out how to do the same things more efficiently — without overlapping the duties of other taxing bodies.

We’ve long been proponents of governmental consolidation where it makes sense to do so.

And, no offense to Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain or Kendall County Sheriff Dwight Baird, but sharing a jail in this case is a no-brainer. […]

But starting Jan. 1, 2023, the SAFE-T Act goes into effect, creating a cashless bail system. That is expected to drastically reduce the overall inmate count in both Kane and Kendall jails. In Kendall, the sheriff’s review predicts it no longer makes sense to run a jail.

When Kane County moved to its current facility in 2007, it had 640 beds and 750 inmates, Hain said. It now averages 315 detainees with that same capacity.

* NBC News…

Opponents argue that relaxing the bail system leads to more crime. In Illinois, Pritzker’s Republican opponent, Darren Bailey, said he plans to make bail reform a central platform of his campaign and use it to attack the governor in ads. Bailey, who has the support of former President Donald Trump, does not want to end money bail and plans to repeal the SAFE-T Act should he be elected, his spokesman Joe DeBose said. DeBose referred to the bill as the “coddle the criminals acts” and said that Bailey “will empower police, put more cops on the streets to stop crimes and ensure safer communities for every Illinoisan.” […]

But research calls those claims into question. A Nov. 2020 analysis from the Prison Policy Initiative that studied research from 12 jurisdictions where pretrial amendments had taken place — including New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and San Francisco — found no evidence that crime increased as a result. A March report by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said that “pretrial re-arrest rates remained nearly identical pre- and post-bail reform.” And a 2022 review by The Civic Federation found that 80.4% of people charged with felonies in Cook County attend all of their scheduled court hearings and that 81.8% of people do not commit new crimes while on pretrial release.

And although many areas are reporting higher crime rates, Scott Hechinger, a civil rights attorney and the founder of Zealous — a national criminal justice and advocacy organization — said it’s misleading to tie bail changes to crime surges because “reforms happened in very few places, rising crime happened everywhere.”

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:34 pm

Comments

Nice unexpected benefit of the Safety Act that not locking up poor people before their trial — just because they are poor — will save taxpayers money too. Congrats to Sheriffs Hain and Baird for getting innovative and taking advantage of better state policies.

Comment by Dan Johnson Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:39 pm
I think Illinois needs fewer counties.

Can the state reduce the number of small counties by annexing them with larger counties?

Would that solve the issues small counties have? Would Illinois benefit from having fewer counties?

Comment by Mama Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:43 pm
Why are so many inmates being housed long term in county jails without a trial?

Comment by Mama Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:45 pm
Bail reform is not a big issue.. it plays well in just one county, Cook.. and when you have a prosecutor who prefers NOT to charge people the talk of bail is not relevant

Comment by NotRich Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:46 pm
on crime and increase and the bail issue, people tend to associate all reforms…as some would call them… together. and since there are some truly out there prosecutors now, they are doing other things that affect perceptions. it’s not just no bail, it’s not charging or charging lower than reasonable for a crime. perception may not be reality but it feels like it is.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:48 pm
Re: Kendall and Kane

West Virginia and Virginia operate a large system of regional jails (multi-jurisdictional). In fact, West Virginia abolished all county jails and moved to a fully regional system in the late 1980s.

https://dcr.wv.gov/aboutus/Pages/history.aspx

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:50 pm
===Would Illinois benefit from having fewer counties?===

Yes. Haven’t the 7 southernmost counties had a regional health department for decades? Doesn’t Alexander County send their inmates to Pulaski County? Doesn’t Menard County “contract” with the Sangamon County Health Department?

Comment by Anyone Remember Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 12:56 pm
Combining counties sounds like a multi-year, multi-lawsuit process in the making, as pols fight over every detail of it. But if you make a large county of two smaller ones, some of your needs don’t change, and you still need enough people to work the entire large county, especially in counties that have few municipalities. And what if two poor, almost-vacant counties get stuck merging because the better-off ones already merged with each other? Food for thought.
Some counties share detention facilities already; Will and Kankakee Counties run the River Valley Juvenile Justice Center.

Comment by thisjustinagain Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:04 pm
==Combining counties sounds like a multi-year, multi-lawsuit process in the making, as pols fight over every detail of it.==

Springfield can’t even get the donut hole municipalities surrounding it annexed into the city (i.e., Grandview, Jerome, Leland Grove, Southern View). Plus the numerous unincorporated but still developed areas surrounded by the city limits.

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:06 pm
DuPage has been sending Juveniles that are held to Kane County for years. Perhaps regional detention centers might be the way to go. I think a downside for those who are held is visitor access and perhaps even attorney access

Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:08 pm
Kankakee County’s sheriff is furious about this trend, because his county has long used prisoner transfers to bring in quite a bit of money.

As for the needless layers of government, blow out the township governments and you’ll cut down a significant amount of graft and patronage with a negligible effect on public services.

Comment by Roadrager Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:31 pm
== As for the needless layers of government, blow out the township governments and you’ll cut down a significant amount of graft and patronage with a negligible effect on public services. ==

If that’s not possible (and it’s dumb that it can’t be), at least merge townships and let home-rule cities disconnect from them. In the places where there are townships coterminous with city borders, just let the cities abolish them altogether.

Comment by Leap Day William Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:51 pm
=I think Illinois needs fewer counties.=

Townships first, please (ha!)

But once we get there, I can think a few counties that should be absorbed by others off the top of my head…Putnam, Edwards, Calhoun, Ford, Scott, Brown

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 1:52 pm
==Combining counties sounds like a multi-year, multi-lawsuit process in the making, as pols fight over every detail of it.==

No.

It literally requires 200 signatures from registered voters within your county, atleast half of which must be property owners, to put the question on the ballot in the county you live in and the county you want to merge with.

See 55 ILCS 5/1-4001.

It’s insane every rural county is not doing this.

Comment by Thomas Paine Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:06 pm
@Thomas Paine. Boy I did not think there were any property requirements left for elections anymore. That is really interesting and only 200 signatures I am surprised it is done every election. But probably like Congress people everyone hates Congress but likes their Congress person. Probably same with counties

Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 2:16 pm
==ut once we get there, I can think a few counties that should be absorbed by others off the top of my head…Putnam,==

I propose that everything east and south of the Illinois River in Marshall and Putnam counties become its own county.

And anything in Putnam and Marshall west of the Illinois River gets annexed to Stark County. With the county seat moved from Toulon (sorry, Jim Nowlan) to tiny Camp Grove on Route 40.

Comment by Just Sayin Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:16 pm
=That is really interesting and only 200 signatures I am surprised it is done every election.=

Not really, people always think it is a good idea to consolidate somebody else’s government but not theirs.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 3:37 pm
I had heard that during the height of the pandemic, LaSalle County wanted to house fewer people in its jail because of health concerns. This may have led to fewer felony charges and more people ROR.

I’ve heard several times Bailey wants to put more cops on the street. It will be a trick to do that without raising taxes. If cities and counties can’t afford to do it now, how will they if he gets elected? Any kind of grants or state funding are only good until they run out and the new cops don’t get paid.

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 4:25 pm
and that is run the democratic run county of champaign just spent 2 million to house out of county prisoners.

/but you guys have no clue.

Comment by prairiedog Monday, Aug 1, 22 @ 8:14 pm