Agenda - 09-05-1995 - IX-B - Laserfiche WebLink

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S JAIL/COURTHOUSE PROJECT DISCUSSION OF OPTIONS AUGUST 28, 1995 Much of the last month has been spent exploring all known options regarding the construction of the Jail/Courthouse project. This report is intended to provide the following information: • Background information of project need; • An articulation of options we have explored and the results of our analysis; • Funding options for the additional money needed for the project; • Recommendation. Background There are two components of this project, the Jail addition and the addition of one courtroom for use by Superior Court. Courtroom This project was necessitated by the extreme overcrowding in the Court system, particularly as it regards the District Court system. The implementation of Administrative Court on Fridays has reduced the size of the Monday/Wednesday courts, however, the Friday courts are far in excess of the District courtroom capacity (82). While the District and Superior Court Judges have worked well together to coordinate the use of the Superior Courtroom in the New Courthouse when District Court dockets were out of sight, the problem has not been eliminated, nor does it show signs of diminishing in the future. The courtroom to be built will be specifically for Superior Court and the large courtroom in the New Courthouse currently assigned for Superior Court will be designated for District Court. The Old Courthouse courtroom will continue to be used for Superior Court as well. Jail The problem with the Jail has gotten worse in the past few months. Average daily population is at 118; the rated capacity of the Jail is 71. The Sheriff has decreased the number of Federal inmates which he is holding, which in turn reduces the revenue we will receive. While the pre-trial release program funded through the Criminal Justice Partnership Act is in its infancy, there has been minimum impact of the program on the daily population to date. As is the case in the Court numbers, there are no signs of future population decreases. Overcrowding is not a matter to be dealt with lightly. It's impact makes us vulnerable in a number of areas. There may be increased incidences of altercations among inmates, staff stress is increased and the potential for other inmate situations is increased when the population is significantly over capacity. The entire $2,000,000 allocated to this project comes from the Federal Marshal's office and guarantees them 75 beds for 15 years. Our Actions To Date The Jail and Courthouse projects were combined for bidding purposes. This proved a very successful approach in the Government Services Center/Tax and Records Renovation projects. By combining projects you may expect to experience savings not only in materials needed (volume buying), but more importantly in the supervision of the job by the contractors superintendent. Since both jobs would be under one contractor, the supervision cost is significantly decreased.