No Vacancy

When it comes to the penal system, the phrase “no room at the inn” rings all too true in Greene County, and it means some offenders might be released early or not booked due to a lack of jail space.

According to the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly 7 million people over the age of 18 were under supervision by correctional facilities in 2012. Although it was the fourth straight year of declines in the American prison population, roughly one of every 108 adults was incarcerated.

Recent disagreements over municipal prisoners being turned away from the Greene County Justice Center came to a head July 14 when the city of Springfield filed suit against Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott and County Commissioners Bob Cirtin, Harold Bengsch and Roseann Bentley. Judge Michael Cordonnier of the 31st Judicial Court is assigned to the case.

“We don’t know why they included us in the lawsuit,” Presiding Commissioner Cirtin said. “Our attorney said we have not violated any agreements. He is in the process of trying to get us removed from that.”

Cirtin declined further comment, citing a moratorium on answering media inquiries agreed to by city and county officials. The commission’s attorney, John Housley of Lowther Johnson Attorneys at Law LLC, also declined to comment.

According to a Web page created by the city chronicling the timeline of communications with the commission and Arnott, the arguments between both parties stem from the sheriff’s letter to Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams, stating municipal prisoners would no longer be accepted as of April 3.

Arnott’s attorney, Pat Keck of Springfield firm Keck & Austin LLC, said she expects to file an answer to the city’s petition prior to the Aug. 20 due date denying Arnott violated the Interlocal Government Agreement Law Enforcement Initiative signed by the city and county in 1997.

Keck said Arnott must comply with three Missouri statutes regarding federal, state and municipal prisoners, and the 1997 agreement can’t violate those.

“The statutes say you shall take federal prisoners, you shall take state prisoners, but the municipality said you take them if there’s room, so they’re a little different,” she said.

Last month, Arnott set a revised policy for municipal inmate admissions that follows those statutes.

“He has a duty to set the policies of the sheriff’s department,” Keck said. “You can’t really change that by contract or agreement.”

How did we get here?
Keck said the justice center’s capacity of 601 inmates isn’t an accurate measuring stick of how many inmates move through Greene County’s system. The real number, she said, changes daily, sometimes even hourly, depending on inmates coming in from other facilities for their day in court.

“It’s a moving target,” she said. “If you’ve got 70 prisoners out of county you’ve got to get back here for court, you have to have somewhere to house them and keep them. He can’t take them home with him.”

Keck said with the requirement to take federal and state prisoners, municipal offenders would otherwise be sent to another facility, which means more money coming out of the sheriff’s budget to house and transport those inmates. For example, if the cost to the sheriff was $60 per prisoner per night and the city was charged $45, Arnott would still lose money but might be able to comply.

“If the city contributes nothing and he’s taking all of their prisoners and sending them all out somewhere, that can’t be sustained,” she said. “It’s a logistics nightmare at this point.”

Due to the number of criminal cases in the 31st Judicial Court, the Justice Center population isn’t likely to decline soon. According to the court’s fiscal 2014 report, a total of 17,947 criminal cases were filed last year – the most since 18,547 in 2006. The caseload is 71 percent over the 10,471 cases filed in fiscal 2013. Of the 2014 cases, 11,101 were felony, associate felony or misdemeanor cases, with 64 to 88 percent of those cases resulting in trials or guilty pleas.

In 2015, Greene County’s criminal caseload is handled by three judges. In an administrative order issued July 10 by Presiding Judge Thomas Mountjoy, criminal cases in the 31st Judicial Court are now assigned in a nearly even split between judges Mountjoy, David Jones and Calvin Holden.

Of the 17,947 criminal cases, including felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic and ordinance violations, filed in the 31st Judicial Circuit during 2014, 16,053 came to resolution through jury or court decision, case dismissal, entering of guilty pleas, being bound over to another court or a change of venue. This is reflected in the disposed/filed ratio, which was 0.89 last year, the first time it dipped below 1.0 in almost a decade.

Colorado case
Whatever the cause or solution, cities suing counties in an effort to take on more municipal prisoners isn’t limited to Springfield. In February 2014, five cities in Adams County, Colo., filed suit against the sheriff for capping the number of municipal inmates housed at the county jail at 65.

“All the various municipalities in the county had been taxed to build that prison with the understanding that our municipal prisoners would be housed there,” said Teresa McKinney, assistant city attorney for Aurora, Colo.

However, McKinney said the situation in Adams County differed from Greene County’s because the Colorado sheriff closed sections of the jail, citing lack of funding to properly staff the entire facility.

While the suit was pending, a new sheriff was elected who McKinney said agreed to incur costs of a third-party study to determine if the cap could be increased and to what amount. Due to the results of the study, the parties have reached an agreement still due to be finalized that would increase the cap to 80 inmates.

“All these other cities (are) getting intergovernmental agreements with each other saying, ‘This is how we’re going to divvy up the allotted number of county beds,’” McKinney said, adding municipalities can share their allotment and are notified by the sheriff’s department if they are over their respective limits. It allows them to decide to release the inmates or incur the costs of transportation to another facility.

“We’ll have the settlement agreement signed by all the parties, at which point we’re going to file a motion to dismiss,” McKinney said.

As for Springfield and Arnott, Keck is hopeful Judge Cordonnier’s decision will clear up the conflict.

“It’s a give and a take,” Keck said. “We have to figure out how not just the city of Springfield, but also all the municipalities, can help participate to work it out the best for everyone, but still allow him to fulfill his duties.

“I think we all are hopeful that we won’t waste a lot of the taxpayer money. We’ll sit down and get this thing resolved.”