All eight housing units at the 168,000-square-foot Garland County Detention Center are occupied, the sheriff's department confirmed Tuesday.
Sheriff Mike McCormick told the Garland County TEA Party last week that all units are holding inmates at the $42 million facility that opened in June 2015. The county opened a second unit for women in November, lifting intake restrictions imposed last February that required women to be released before new ones could be booked.
Daily population reports showed the male population has been over 300 on average since September. Some men have had to be housed in the booking area, as the growing male population has overwhelmed the combined 297-bed capacity of the five units for men.
Booking restrictions put in place for men in September are still in effect. The jail has said they will remain in place until the male count drops below 252.
Jail officials told the Garland County Quorum Court last year that they expected to request funding to open an additional unit for men later this year or in 2021. It's unclear how the occupation of all eight units affects that plan.
"We are working on this item, and we anticipate making a proposal to the quorum court in the future," the sheriff's department said in a written response to questions submitted by The Sentinel-Record.
The 64-bed F unit is reserved for the more than a dozen women who have worked at the jail since early last year as part of a work-release program for inmates who would otherwise be serving their felony sentences at the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Most of them assist the jail's food service contractor.
Jail officials have said the women require less supervision than other inmates and don't affect the facility's operational capacity.
The county's agreement with inmate food service provider Trinity Services Group stipulates 10 inmates be provided to assist with food preparation and cleaning of equipment during morning and afternoon shifts. The original agreement with the Florida-based contractor made it responsible for hiring all kitchen personnel. A contract amendment executed in October explicitly authorized inmates to assist Trinity.
The language was added in response to concerns Trinity's use of inmate labor violated its agreement with the county and the work-release program. The cooperation agreement the county entered into with the Department of Corrections in December 2018 prohibits program inmates from providing personal services for private benefit, but the state said last year the county was in compliance with program rules.
The state pays counties $12 a day to house program inmates, less than half of the $30 paid for inmates awaiting transfer to state prison. A consultant's report issued in March said it cost the county about $60 to $65 a day to house an inmate.
Jail officials credited state inmates for a significant reduction in kitchen maintenance costs, explaining last year that having a crew dedicated to assisting Trinity resulted in less equipment damage than the rotating crew of county inmates who previously worked in the kitchen.
Local on 02/19/2020