Minutes 04-10-2018 CIP - Laserfiche WebLink

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11 automatically cut back on federal inmates if the County is serving a purpose, and she asked if the Sheriff knows where the inmates would go if Orange County was unwilling to house them. Sheriff Blackwood said the federal government would have to figure that out, not Orange County. Chair Dorosin said if a larger facility is built, with empty spaces, than there will be incentive to fill the spaces. Sheriff Blackwood said he agreed with Bonnie Hammersley in that it is important to not under build this facility. He said this may be a 100-year building, and he said he does not want the County to go into this project and under build. Commissioner Price asked if it would make sense to have 144 beds as the total build out size, and build less to start with. Sheriff Blackwood said he does not know what the future will hold. Commissioner Burroughs asked if the number of inmates per pod is known. Bonnie Hammersley said there are different models, and that number depends on the design. Jeff Thompson said the current design has an 8-bed denominator, and there are different pod sizes depending on usage and holding requirements. Bonnie Hammersley said this is a very small detention center. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the federal and local lawbreakers are different classes of lawbreakers. Sheriff Blackwood said yes. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the additional on site services would be tailored to the needs of the local inmates. Sheriff Blackwood said the inmates are housed separately but the need for services is about the same. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the federal inmates would need some of these more progressive services. Sheriff Blackwood said the needs of the federal and local inmates are about the same. Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the County is providing a greater service to the region by housing federal inmates, rather than them going somewhere else. Bonnie Hammersley said there are a lot of new facilities in this area, and one of the reasons federal inmates are put in local jails is because they want more local funds to support the federal system. She said it is done in economically challenged areas even more. Commissioner McKee said regardless of how the BOCC proceeds regarding size, support services, etc., he does not want to under build a detention center. He said no Board is going to be enthusiastic about building another jail. He said he also does not want to see it be over built, just to house federal prisoners. He said if the Board does decide to cut back to just serving local inmates, then he would play devil’s advocate, and say a new jail is not needed at all, but rather the County can refurbish the old jail. Commissioner Rich said Chatham County had a progressive design for their new jail, and the facilities within the jail were all built to future needs. She said she does like the idea of having a separate entrance for these proposed alternative services. Commissioner Rich said the Board had spoken about using the current Environmental Agricultural Center land for affordable housing, and she would like to continue this discussion. Bonnie Hammersley said Chatham County did overbuild its jail, and built for the future; but Chatham County’s average daily cost to house an inmate is the highest, at $209/day. She said the County has to build what it can afford. Commissioner Marcoplos said he thinks the BOCC can find a number that allows the County to be prepared for future needs. He said the desire to provide creative services to prevent incarceration should not be based on the scarcity of beds.