Tight jail space leaves criminals on the loose
Spend a few minutes talking about jail beds with Crook County Sheriff Jim Hensley and it’s not hard to tell the too-small jail is a big source of frustration.
“We’re releasing people all hours of the day and night,” Hensley said Tuesday. “It’s a residential area, there’s a school a block away, there’s a kiddie park right next door.”
Hensley acknowledged it’s not too much of a stretch to say the jail has become something of a joke to those who even have to wait some time to serve their time.
“I’m very concerned,” Hensley said. “They (criminals) know there is a very low chance they’ll go to jail if they don’t comply. They are getting more brazen.”
The Crook County Jail has 16 beds crammed into a small space attached to the Prineville Police Department. The county also regularly rents 16 jail beds from neighboring Jefferson County.
Last week alone, 14 inmates were released early — some held on drug charges and first-degree burglaries among other charges.The matrix releases happen on a daily basis.
The frustrating jail-space issue came to light again this week, as a transient arrested for allegedly stealing a restored 1930 Model A coupe from a church parking lot and crashing it into the Crooked River was hauled off to jail — and released the same day.
Hensley said thejail space issues arose in 2008 and have exploded in recent years.
“This individual was sentenced to 20 days by the court,” Hensley said, pointing to his list. “He served four hours. We also had an individual a couple months back who was arrested for burglary — he fought with a 70-year-old man. We had to kick him out (of jail).”
More troubling for Hensley: Many criminals never even set foot in jail.
More than 120 people are on a waiting list to serve time behind bars.
When NewsChannel 21 asked if they would ever go to jail, the sheriff said: “At the rate we’re going, no.”
Hensley said the lack of punishment not only encourages more crime, but also affects how the judges choose sentences, and has nearly rendered the community service program useless.
“If they don’t show up for community service, the only recourse is jail,” Hensley said. “We don’t have any jail space.”
Hensley said projects around town go unfinished because rarely more than two people ever show up to complete their community service.
And the “get out of jail free” card likely won’t be going away in the near future. The county hasn’t asked for a jail bond for more than a decade, and there won’t be anything on the November ballot.
The jail operates on about $1 million a year.
“We can’t place the blame on anybody,” Hensley said. “Other than the fact it’s funding.”
County Judge/Commissioner Mike McCabe said jail bonds in the past have failed.
“We, of course, had a school bond that passed. We didn’t feel like we should be competing with the school system,” McCabe said.
McCabe said now, the jail will get its turn.
“We want to get the ball rolling,” McCabe said. “We haven’t had any town hall meetings. That’s our next step, to see what the people think.”
The key to building a new jail will be asking Crook County residents to pay, to make sure criminals pay.
McCabe couldn’t say exactly how much the county would ask from residents, but it would be several millions of dollars.
McCabe and Hensley said jail feasibility studies are currently underway, and they hope to present options to the community in the coming months.
Hensley estimates adding new beds will cost $5 million to $13 million, depending on whether the county decides to remodel or build a new jail.
Both men favor a remodel of the old Pioneer Memorial Hospital into a jail and public safety department.
Hensley said he hopes the county can build about 80 beds.
McCabe said the county will likely kick a couple million dollars into the project. He said the county has about $4 million for capital projects from various property sales, including a land sale to Apple for its data center.
County commissioners are expected to take up the jail issue at their work session next Tuesday.
