Crowded Madison County jail creates safety and financial concerns for county leaders

(WKYT)
Published: Aug. 23, 2019 at 5:54 PM EDT
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While concerns continue to grow among a packed house in the Madison County Detention Center, county leaders say action is needed to make the jail a safe and financially stable environment.

The jail currently holds 413 inmates and only has 184 beds.

On Thursday, newly elected Jailer Steve Tussey wrote a letter to the Department of Corrections Commission capping the amount of inmates allowed in the facility at 450. Eight months earlier he capped the number to 400.

Members of the county’s government sat down with WKYT’s Nick Oliver Friday to share their concerns about the jail.

Jailer Tussey says the overcrowding has made a dramatic impact on the facility and his correctional officers. He says every officer is responsible for 50 inmates. The state of Kentucky recommends 40 inmates for every one officer.

Overcrowding is the most noticeable of the problems. Tussey shared with WKYT the cells inside the jail were made for 12 inmates but he is forced to house 28 to 30 inmates in each cell – many of which sleep on mats on the floor.

“Simply with these numbers we are basically running out of places on the floor to lay a mat,” said Tussey. “The current situation of what we have now won’t work much longer.”

Tussey, a 40-year veteran in the federal corrections system, says his biggest concerns sit with safety for the officer and inmates. He says since the overcrowding became an issue several safety implementations have been at risk simply because there are too many people.

In total, the county is responsible for 552 people within the justice system. In a report, 43 are taking part in a home incarceration program and 96 have been sent to jails in other counties – in which Madison County is forced to pay for.

Madison County Treasurer Glenna Baker broke down the numbers sharing for every 80 inmates that are in another county’s jail for a year, the county pays $1 million. With more than 80 inmates in different sections of the state the county is preparing to pay their highest amount yet.

They originally budgeted for $400,000 thinking they would not go over that amount.

Baker says some other county jails have capitalized on the opportunity. Some jails raising their prices because they know county’s with overcrowded jails don’t have a choice but to send the inmate and pay up.

The average sits at $30 a day for each inmate but prices vary. They say Lexington’s Urban County Government takes advantage by charging $75 per inmate per day.

Madison County officers have traveled as much as five hours to place an inmate somewhere where they can actually have a bed.

In just five years numbers show the jails budget has been raised over $1 million dollars just to adjust to the mass amounts of inmates that make the Madison County cells home.

The financial and safety burdens all align to one goal some leaders have in a new or expanded jail.

The goal was in grasp in July of 2018 but a recovery center geared for drug offenders was not something the majority of the county supported as a reason to raise taxes. Reagan Taylor was forced to throw the plans for both the expanded jail and recovery center down the drain.

Over a year later, Tussey says the jail has reached dangerous levels and although at the mercy of the fiscal court, says it’s time for big decisions to be made by county leaders.

“It's their responsibility to supply the county with a jail that ultimately my goal is the safety of the staff, inmates and the residents of this county and we are approaching a number that is no longer sustainable and we must do something else.”

Magistrate John Tudor says he believes the time has come as well.

When asked if he sees the ongoing situation in jail as a “human rights issue” he responded with “I think so.”

When plans for the original jail were in place, he was assigned to a task force along with other officials. Their job was to visit other jails to discover what their needs were in Madison County.

He says he is ready to re-start that process and get the ball rolling towards either a jail expansion or new jail.

“We are to the point it is dangerous in the jail. We are going to have to do something,” said Tudor. “Almost everyone I talk to says it’s time we go ahead and move forward and do something about the overcrowded jail.”

When asked when Tudor could see the plans in motion he said “sooner than later.”

Another official says they expect some decisions in the near future.