Crook County is looking for ways to solve a jail capacity problem which causes criminals to be released early or sometimes not even jailed at all.
County Sheriff Jim Hensley says that without the fear of jail, convicted criminals are not making good on their debt to society.
“We have people that are sentenced to community service- maybe two will show up,” Hensley says. “The next alternative is if they don’t show up to work crew like they’re supposed to, is jail time. Well, we don’t have any jail beds so there’s no incentive to make them come in.”
The jail only has 16 beds. An additional 16 beds are regularly rented from Jefferson County. The shortage is causing frustration among all departments involved.
“Sometimes they keep arresting the same people over and over again, and they just keep getting released,” says Hensley
Sheriff Hensley says that the County is looking into solutions, including converting an old hospital. He estimates the cost of a facility to be anywhere from five to thirteen million. He says future town meetings on the subject are planned.
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