During Monday’s Marshall County Commissioner’s meeting, County Attorney Jim Clevenger told the commissioners the intergovernmental agreement Sheriff Matt Hassel had requested to assist with the overcrowding at the jail was put on hold.
Last month the commissioners considered an agreement with Elkhart County, the only area jail who was willing to accept inmates when our county jail is past capacity. They did not approved an agreement because all the details including daily cost had not been determined at that point.
The commissioners asked Clevenger to try and arrange a meeting with the judges, prosecutor, probation and community corrections to see if any additional actions could be taken to reduce the inmate counts at the jail. On Monday Clevenger said he had talked with the Prosecutor, Nelson Chipman and he indicated that the policies and procedures he and the courts put in place towards the end of 2018 have not yet had time to show results.
Clevenger said the prosecutor has a deputy attending a seminar on pre-trail release alternatives and he hopes it will provide some additional ideas that might help the overcrowding at the jail.
Clevenger said he thinks a meeting is still in the works to talk with all involved about the overcrowding issues they are seeing at the jail in the next couple of weeks.
