This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
To ease overcrowding, the Salt Lake County Jail might pass on booking certain non-violent offenders.
The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, which manages the jail, plans to not book people for certain non-violent offenses and instead release them into an expanded supervised release program. The sheriff's office is still working out details, but the policy changes could take effect in late June, said Sheriff Jim Winder.
Supervised release is a cheaper alternative, too, costing the sheriff's office $24 a day, per person. Keeping the same person booked in the jail costs $90 a day, Winder said. There mere act of booking someone is also expensive, at $260 per person.
"If we can identify a population that can stay in the community with supervsion and stay connected to their jobs and families and not re-offend," that could be better than "playing this revolving door with other people who show up," Winder said.
The jail is almost at capacity every day, with a population of about 2,100 to 2,200 people. And Winder anticipates the demand for beds increasing. Not only is summer routinely the busiest season of the year, but some law enforcement agencies are arresting more people; an early-case-resolution initiative at the 3rd District Court was halted, so the jail is seeing fewer diversions; and a new law will send more drug offenders to jail instead of prison.
This past legislative session, lawmakers approved HB348, which drops drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor. Winder is unsure of how many more inmates they'll see because of the bill, which took effect Monday. But he believes that an expanded supervised release program is in keeping with the spirit of the bill, which was meant to reduce recidivism.
"For all of these reasons, that is why I'm ringing the bell," Winder said. "This year, we've just got to approach it in a different fashion."
The sheriff's office wants to keep chiefs of police in the Salt Lake Valley informed about the possible change, Winder added.
The office has the power to stop booking people without county government approval, but Winder wants to work with the mayor and County Council, and bring his proposal before them for discussion.
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