Jail Overcrowding Initiative
Jails across the state are overcrowded and the cost of incarcerating all those people is growing increasingly expensive in a time of severe budget shortfalls. Story in the Bowling Green Daily News.
But an initiative selected by the Kentucky Supreme Court that
will allow people who are arrested for nonviolent crimes in nine counties to post bail immediately instead of going to jail is a small step toward easing this problem – step that should be expanded statewide.
The court has selected Bell, Boone, Boyd, Butler, Campbell, Edmonson, Kenton, Ohio and Pike counties for the program, which will begin Jan. 1.
The 35-page list of charges covered by the program include marijuana possession, prostitution, minor traffic offenses, hunting violations and shoplifting. It also includes 24 first felony theft charges, such as stealing electrical service. People charged with violent crimes won’t be eligible.
One would hope that this program would be a success and serious consideration would be given for expanding it statewide.
Not only would this program help cut down on overcrowding in our jails, it could also save the state a lot of money for housing non-violent offenders.
Justice Will T. Scott said if the project is successful, it could save the state $150 million a year, or more than $400,000 a day, by allowing people arrested on any of more than 700 mostly misdemeanor charges to immediately post bail and go home.
This is not pocket change and considering the budget shortfall our state is facing, it is a step in the right direction.
Jail operations are also one of the larger line items in many county budgets, so this change could greatly benefit counties.
The initiative would also be beneficial to offenders arrested on the weekends or nights when judges are off duty and unavailable to approve bonds.
It would also be particularly beneficial for counties such as Edmonson County, which has no jail and has to send its prisoners elsewhere. It would also benefit Butler County, which has to send its women arrestees elsewhere.
This is a win-win situation that could really help our state by cutting down on jail overcrowding and saving a lot of money spent on housing people who should be able to bail out immediately for certain misdemeanors and non-violent offenses.
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