Jail full, closes to women with misdemeanor cases

HOT SPRINGS — The Garland County jail confirmed Wednesday that it has been closed to women arrested on misdemeanor charges or convicted of misdemeanor offenses since Feb. 1, forcing it to reinstate the revolving door policy that led to the opening of the $42 million facility fewer than four years ago.

Chief Deputy of Corrections Steven Elrod said crowding requires one woman to be released for every woman who is booked into the jail. The female population has exceeded operational capacity since January, he said, peaking at 80 inmates before Sheriff Mike McCormick announcing the closure of the female housing unit.

Elrod said the policy will remain in effect until the inmate count drops to 58 or fewer. There were 64 inmates in the female housing unit Wednesday morning, putting it near the population level that Elrod said poses an unacceptable safety risk to inmates and staff members.

“Inmates are typically released on a one-for-one method, until population is alleviated and drops to a level equal to or less than operational capacity,” he said.

The A Unit where women are held has a design capacity of 68, but Elrod said full capacity is 65, or 95 percent of design capacity. Operational capacity is 58, or 85 percent of design capacity. A population above that limits space needed to isolate troublesome inmates and carry out direct supervision, the organizing principle informing jail policy, procedure and its design.

It’s centered on placing jailers in inmate living areas with no intervening barriers, enabling closer supervision of the inmates.

The F Unit also houses women, but they are serving felony sentences through an Arkansas Department of Correction work-release program. Elrod said they work in the jail’s kitchen.

Opened in 2015, the jail is a 168,000-square-foot facility with an operational capacity of 373. It was designed to house 635 inmates, the projected population by 2035. A population of 476 is projected by 2025. The jail reported an average daily population of almost 360 last year.

According to a March report by consultants who the county hired in December, the inmate population has increased 34 percent since the jail opened in 2015, significantly outpacing the rate projected by the committee formed to develop a plan for the new facility.

Crowding required female inmates to be held in the booking area earlier this year, Elrod said. The jail has had an elevated female population since last year, prompting it to adjust its early-release policy for misdemeanor offenses. Prisoners are credited with one day of time served for every day of work under a policy adopted in July, building on the meritorious good-time policy the Garland County Quorum Court adopted in 2015.

Good behavior, work or participating in one of the more than 20 self-improvement programs offered at the jail can earn an inmate a 10day reduction in sentence for every 30 days served under the 2015 policy.

In addition to accelerating the timeline for early release, the jail uses alternative sentencing to ease crowding. State law and rules of criminal procedure give jails the discretion to manage their populations using tools such as electronic monitoring or issuing citations in lieu of confinement.

Alternative sentencing is reserved for nonviolent, misdemeanor offenders without histories of failing to appear in court, Elrod said, noting that they are required to sign agreements honoring the conditions of their release.

McCormick’s memo said the jail won’t turn away anyone arrested for a high-level crime in the county or who poses a danger to the community.