Jail works to release some inmates in case virus hits

FAYETTEVILLE — The Washington County jail plans to release on electronic monitoring at least 72 inmates, who officials determined are at higher risk to contract covid-19.

The sheriff”s office has been working with the Association of Arkansas Counties risk management team to develop a program to identify detainees for possible release, Chief Deputy Jay Cantrell said Thursday. The inmates’ release depends on approval from Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett and the circuit judges.

Cantrell said the association recommended that the sheriff’s office identify people — whose health may already be compromised, those who are pregnant and those who are older than 45 — as being at a higher risk.

“A big part of those people, more than 50, were here for failure to appear,” he said.

Cantrell said 70 of the 71 people were pretrial detainees. One woman who may be released is pregnant and had been sentenced to time in the state Department of Community Correction. The state couldn’t make space available, he said. The jail staff is already working to release the detainees, he said.

The coronavirus, which causes covid-19, is a respiratory illness. The World Health Organization declared the virus a pandemic March 11, and President Donald Trump declared a national emergency March 13. As of Thursday, 62 Arkansans are presumed to have the virus, according to state officials.

Durrett said he went over the list of inmates with Washington County Circuit Judge Mark Lindsey, and he agreed to the release under an electronic monitoring program. Cantrell said the monitoring program uses cellphones with an app that will track a person’s location, and the inmates are required to check in daily, with photos, to make sure they are following the conditions of their release.

Cantrell said the cost of the program is $5 per day if a person has his own phone and $15 per day if a phone has to be provided. Cantrell said the cost will be paid by the sheriff ’s office, not the individuals being released.

Cantrell said the jail population Thursday was around 610, and the normal operating capacity of the 710-bed facility is around 540.

The population has been more than 800 in recent months. The sheriff’s office has been releasing more than 200 misdemeanor offenders a month to keep the population manageable.

Durrett said he and Lindsey approved the release because of the uncertainty surrounding the spread of the virus and the potential impact on the jail population if someone with the virus were to be held there.

“These are extraordinary circumstances in extraordinary times,” Durrett said. “Everyone is concerned with the possibility of an outbreak at the jail.”

Durrett said the sheriff’s office keeps in regular contact with his office about the jail population and the release of detainees from the lockup. Durrett said he and Lindsey agreed that this is a needed step.

“The sheriff has done a good job of identifying people who are not a great risk to the community,” Durrett said. “These are nonviolent offenders.”

Stan Adelman, a Fayetteville attorney and law professor, was hired by the county last year as an ombudsman to work on reducing crowding in the jail. Adelman has been urging the county to take more steps to reduce the jail population in light of the coronavirus threat.

Adelman asked the county Monday to consider hearings for detainees being held for failure to appear to see if they might be released. He welcomed the county’s decision to release the 71 detainees.

“The smaller the jail population, the smaller the potential fallout if there is a case in the jail,” Adelman said.

Cantrell said the sheriff’s office is trying to keep the jail population low enough to be able to shift people around and have space to quarantine people if needed.