Fairfield County Proposes to Reduce Jail Population
Drug- and alcohol-addicted offenders in Fairfield County might find 
themselves checking into a day reporting center rather than jail early next year, if the proposed alternative is found to be cost effective. Story from the Lancaster Eagle Gazette.
County commissioners and the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office are looking at developing a day reporting center as an alternative to incarceration.
“We looked at one in West Virginia, and it could be cost effective,” Fairfield County Commissioner Judy Shupe said.
County officials visited the Lee Day Report Center in West Virginia in September to see if the program could be adapted to Fairfield County.
“They would receive counseling and other services,” Shupe said. “They would also be drug-tested. At the West Virginia location, the county would pay for the test if it was negative, but the offender would pay for it if it came back positive.”
Shupe said the key to savings would be whether the county can convert an existing county owned building into a center.
Under the proposal, nonviolent, misdemeanor offenders would report to a center during the day or nonworking hours.
Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen said the site they visited in West Virginia had cut the jail population in half.
Phalen said Fairfield County had about 230 prisoners in jail on Tuesday.
“We spend as much as $600,000 and it could be as much as a million (dollars) by the end of the year,” Phalen said. “Right now we have more than 30 prisoners in other county jails.”
Phalen said the county is looking at the amount of money it could save by not sending prisoners to jail and instead diverting them to a day reporting center.
The next step is an evaluation being done in Fairfield County Municipal Court.
“If they can find between 30 to 40 offenders that could be in this program instead of in jail, the program would pay for itself,” Phalen said.
He said the goal is to find out if the county can find the numbers and location to make it work.
Sites being considered include the former offices used by the Fairfield County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, 407 E. Main St. The EMA recently moved to the Fairfield County Job & Family Services building at the corner of Memorial Drive and West Main Street.
“If the numbers work and a location can be found, we could have the center up and running early next year,” Phalen said.
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