Jail population down in first quarter 2008

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BY JEAN ORTIZ / Lincoln Journal Star

Lancaster County Corrections Director Mike Thurber delivered some good news Thursday: The average daily jail population was down nearly 4 percent in the first three months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007.

The numbers, which include inmates at the downtown jail, a minimum-security complex in Air Park and in other counties, came to an average 424.4 for the first quarter of the year. That’s down from 441.2 last year.

The corrections system has a capacity of 373.

The bulk of that decrease came at Air Park — the site Thurber predicted in February could show the impact of alternative sentencing.

The Community Corrections Department, which oversees alternative programs, has ramped up its efforts in the past year. Specifically, the board has put more money toward buying electronic monitors to meet the increasing number of people sentenced to house arrest rather than jail.

The average downtown jail population held pretty close, with 303.5 inmates on average this year compared with 302.8 during the same period in 2007, according to numbers Thurber shared during a quarterly Board of Corrections meeting.

The number of inmates held in Platte County during the first quarter averaged 37.4, up from 35.8 in 2007. Lancaster County contracts with other counties to take overflow.

In all, jail bookings were down 15.5 percent in the first quarter of this year and lodgings were down 21.4 percent.

If the trend continues, Thurber said, he could see decreases this summer, which is the period that traditionally brings population peaks.

Asked whether the data would influence the board in its decisions with Community Corrections come budget time, Lancaster County Commissioner Bernie Heier, who serves as chairman of the Board of Corrections, said it could.

But alternative sentencing wasn’t the only factor in decreasing the jail population. It was colder this past winter, and cold weather makes it harder for people to commit crimes, Heier said.

County leaders are moving ahead with plans to build a jail at Southwest 40th and West O streets, which would eliminate the need to operate two complexes and send inmates outside the county.

The County Board plans to meet with its financial advisers Thursday to discuss financing options following the defeat of a bond issue in Tuesday’s primary election.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.