You wouldn't think it, but getting a nice, new, spacious jail in Salt Lake County is turning out to be pretty much of a bummer for Sheriff Aaron Kennard.
That's because less than two months after the jail opened, Kennard's resources are again strained to the breaking point. Funded for 75 percent capacity, the jail is now operating at 88 percent, and corrections officers are burning the candle at both ends to make up the difference.A month ago Kennard was forced to open an additional 64-bed housing unit over and above his authorized funding level. That forced 20 percent of his officers to work overtime to staff it.
Now, with jail population continuing to mount, this week Kennard will open another housing unit, bumping the number of overtime workers to 40 percent. He is using a combination of voluntary and mandatory overtime, and it's taking its toll.
"Some of our employees are feeling burned out," said Susan Biesele, human resources director for the Sheriff's Office.
Kennard broke the bad news to the County Commission Tuesday.
When the Adult Detention Complex opened at 3300 S. 900 West Jan. 23, a federal consent decree limiting population levels expired, meaning Kennard has to take every single person booked into jail instead of giving small-time offenders pretrial releases.
That has translated into situations such as one County Commission Chairman Mark Shurtleff related, in which a person picked up on a misdemeanor warrant pleaded guilty to a Class C misdemeanor -- the most minor offense -- after spending 30 days in the slammer.
"That's the kind of offender the consent decree would have released," said jail chief Paul Cunningham.
The latest bad news puts the pressure on commissioners to increase Kennard's funding levels for staffing.
But even that wouldn't help right now. In addition to overflowing inmate population levels -- 1,955 at last count -- Kennard continues to have problems in hiring and training enough corrections officers to staff even the funded population of 1,656. He has been conducting nationwide searches for qualified applicants and putting them through the corrections academy, but it just isn't happening fast enough.
Kennard still only has 356 jail staffers, 58 short of his currently authorized 414.
The commission will decide later this year whether to authorize full staffing levels -- a tough decision, as the county budget is extremely tight.
But with all this bad news, "there is light at the end of the tunnel," Kennard said. The state Legislature last session passed SB221, which gives county sheriffs the power to set limits on jail capacity -- basically the equivalent of the defunct consent decree.
Kennard lobbied hard for passage of the bill. Gov. Mike Leavitt has yet to sign it, though he will probably do so. Even if he does, however, the bill doesn't take effect until May, meaning Kennard will have to scramble for stopgap solutions until then.
On a related note, discussions with the state over buying the nearby Oxbow Jail are moribund, and county real estate director Roger Hillam anticipates approaching possible private buyers. A public hearing on the possible sale is scheduled for March 20.