An expanded court home confinement system could reduce overcrowding at the Lawrence County Jail while waiting for a new facility, officials say.

Tuesday, August 07, 2001

An expanded court home confinement system could reduce overcrowding at the Lawrence County Jail while waiting for a new facility, officials say.

There’s no easy answer to freeing up jail space, said Sheriff Tim Sexton.

A jail larger than the current 52-bed facility cannot be up and running right away, and funding questions still loom on the horizon, Sexton said.

"We all realize it’s a problem, and we’re trying to do something about it," he said.

The sheriff, Lawrence County Common Pleas Court and county commissioners have already hosted initial talks on more home confinement of non-violent offenders as a current option.

Not all offenders qualify, but law enforcement agencies and courts are cooperating to address the jail situation, Sexton said.

Also, about a month ago, the sheriff hosted discussion with the director of the Cabell County, W.Va., home confinement program, which is operated as a separate agency in Huntington.

That program uses home monitors/alarms, but employs people specific to the program to administer it and respond when alarms go off. And, the offenders pay for it, Sexton said.

Benefits of such a program include not only freeing up bed space but cutting back on the county’s inmate housing expense locally and when they have to be housed elsewhere.

"We need to find a way to boost home confinement use when people are eligible," Sexton said.

Common Pleas Court presiding Judge Richard Walton said the court currently has contracted with the provider of home confinement equipment to do some cases but not many.

An expanded program will likely involve questions of how to apply the program and how to fund it, Walton said.

The county, the court and the sheriff’s department are seeking policies and funding help to do more in the appropriate cases, he said.

"It will take a funding source which may be replenished out of costs," Walton said.

For example, a revolving-type fund could use county monies to install monitoring equipment. Collecting per-day costs from offenders or other revenue sources could then replenish that fund, so more could be used for other offenders.

Walton added that it takes time to develop an effective mechanism, but the work is continuing.

"We will continue talking with the courts and commission to implement a program," Sexton said.