This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
More people are headed for the Salt Lake County jail starting this weekend after an unpopular restriction policy was loosened.
As of 5 p.m. Friday, jail officials began accepting people suspected of serious types of misdemeanors, not just felonies. Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder early last year had implemented the policy, which prioritized jail space only for those suspected of felonies, as a way to combat severe overcrowding.
Winder's policy frustrated law enforcement officials in the county, with Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown an especially vocal critic. They have said it hampers their ability to get offenders off the street and deter criminal activity. In many cases, officers say they are forced to hand out citations instead.
But Winder has maintained there simply was not enough space at his jail — until now.
On Friday, county officials began shipping an unknown number of inmates to a handful of other correctional facilities in the state to free up space locally, Unified Police Detective Ken Hansen said.
Moving inmates elsewhere was made possible last month, when the Salt Lake County Council appropriated $705,000 to Winder to send inmates to other jails, mostly in rural counties. It is stopgap funding until July, when the state and county will each pitch in $2.8 million to send inmates elsewhere, ultimately freeing up 300 beds at the county jail.
Inmates will be transferred elsewhere on a weekly basis, Hansen said.
"It gives us a little bit more room to get people in that are committing crimes close to felonies, but are not felonies," he said.
Hansen said the jail will now allow class A misdemeanor cases for booking at the jail. The most serious type of misdemeanor, a class A is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Examples include certain types of assault and domestic violence, and theft of items worth $500 to $1,500.
Winder announced the shift in policy — sending inmates elsewhere to free up beds locally — last month. He said at the time the plan is to gradually eliminate the restrictions enacted last year. Salt Lake City leaders responded by saying the policy shift fulfilled the county's "responsibility to provide adequate jail space to law enforcement in Salt Lake City and around the valley."
The jail restrictions have created a rift between Winder and Brown. Brown has blamed Winder's policy as the reason for a rise in Salt Lake City drug crimes, especially in the Rio Grande area.
Winder has said he didn't have a choice but to implement the restrictions, and that the chief had blown the issue out of proportion before a correlation between a rise in crime and the jail policy had been clearly established.
Twitter: @lramseth