The Marshall County Commissioner are now considering an additional pod at the County Jail.
On Monday, Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel told the County Commissioner the jail is experiencing an increase in their jail population and that he is near capacity. The jail population has seen a steady increase since last summer. He gave a brief rundown on the average daily population over the last 4 years. In 2014 the average daily population was 132 while it decreased to 127 in 2015. The population jumped back up in 2016 to a daily average of 137 and in the 2017 the average was 153. So far this year the monthly average inmate population was 166 in January, 184 in February, 194 in March, 201 in April, 198 in May and 212 in June. The highest count in July was 240.
Sheriff Hassel explained the reasons of the population increase on several different issues. Pertrial detainees that don’t post a cash bond to be released make up 76% of the jail population with an average stay of 117 days. He said House Bill 1006 which passed a couple of years ago requires the county to house level 6 felons in the local jails and that makes up another 15% of the population. Their average stay is 126 days. Another cause for the increase in jail population is the large increase in arrests for possession and dealing of methamphetamines. The sheriff said, “Meth is available everywhere in the county. It’s not being made here, it’s coming in from across the border.” He also said the inmate population is now 25% female.
The Marshall County Jail has 239 regular beds, 2 detoxification cells, 2 medical cells, 1 padded cell and 1 observation cell. The sheriff said the population on Monday was 231.
The sheriff said, “With the increase in population, this directly impacts the budget increasing the demand for prisoner meals, prisoner supplies, prisoner care, janitorial supplies, staff, transport, repair to buildings and structures to name a few.”
Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer said he, County Council President Judy Stone and Sheriff Hassle recently met with RQAW, the company designed the original jail and discussed the possibility of adding on to the jail. The previous jail committee did think ahead any had the jail designed for an additional pod with a larger kitchen and laundry, utility services and drainage.
County Attorney Jim Clevenger is currently reviewing a contract with RQAW for design services for adding an additional pod, basically doubling the number of beds in the Marshall County Jail.
