The Associated Press
PROVO, Utah (AP) - The Utah County Jail has been over capacity for more than a week, resulting in many inmates being freed and Sheriff Jim Tracy telling area law enforcement agencies that they can’t book people into jail on most misdemeanor charges anymore.
More than 60 prisoners were released Monday to relieve some of the pressure, and on Tuesday the jail still had too many women inmates.
Tracy said police no longer will be able to take people to the jail on class B or class C misdemeanors, such as public intoxication and shoplifting. The jail will continue to take people charged with DUIs and domestic violence.
“We’ve been significantly over capacity without any downward trend,” Tracy said.
The overcrowding is an issue because if the jail gets too full, the county could face a lawsuit.
The American Civil Liberties Union won such a lawsuit against the county before the new jail was built, said County Commissioner Steve White.
The jail is only supposed to be 85 percent full, to keep space open for incoming people and to allow jail personnel to move people around, said sheriff’s Capt. John Carlson, head of the jail division. There also are beds in the jail that can’t be counted as available bed space because they are in the infirmary, the medical unit or discipline area.
Earlier this year, the Legislature gave sheriffs the power to control who can be booked into jail when their jails are full. The law also banned counties from charging cities for booking certain offenders - a measure Utah County had hoped to use to control the jail’s population.
People charged with class B and class C misdemeanors only account for a small part of the jail’s population, White said. But keeping them out of the jail will make bed space for people charged with more serious offenses, and give the county time to expand the jail before it’s too overcrowded.
The county designed the jail to add more buildings, and the county is looking to expand, Carlson said.
“We’re looking at expansion in next year’s capital improvement plan,” White said. “We have a number of capital projects intended to free up space.”
Construction on a new building to house inmates could be started late next year, he said.
Tracy said the crime rate has been steady, but the number of people being booked into jail is rising because the county’s population is increasing.