Room behind bars: Crow Wing Jail population falls
When the new Crow Wing County Jail opened in 2007, it was built to hold 286 inmates - 226 from Crow Wing County and 60 from Cass County.
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The intent, however, was never to have the jail at full capacity right from the start, said Capt. Jerry Negen, jail administrator.
Security cameras at the Crow Wing County Jail, which opened in 2007, allow staff to watch every area of the jail. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
"We were talking about a 20-year plan," Negen said.
Added Crow Wing County Sheriff Todd Dahl, "When we opened the facility we weren't opening it for the next year but for decades down the road. There was no question about that."
The $17 million jail, of which Cass County paid $2.2 million, was built not just for the future but to alleviate a jail population in Crow Wing County that often exceeded the maximum of 124 beds of the old system, 44 of which were at the Law Enforcement Center and 80 that were at the jail annex at the Brainerd Regional Human Services Center campus. Often, the county paid to have inmates housed at neighboring county jails.
The Crow Wing County Jail in 2009
Total staff - 59.
Total incarceration - A total of 3,698 inmates were incarcerated with an average population of 134.
Intakes per month - 313 in January, 248 in February, 335 in March, 293 in April, 292 in May, 323 in June, 360 in July, 325 in August, 318 in September, 276 in October, 303 in November and 312 in December.
Hours with most intakes - About 280 from 3-4 p.m., about 260 from 4-5 p.m. and about 240 from 6-7 p.m.
Admittance by race - 2,695 white, 787 American Indian, 155 black, 41 unknown and 20 Asian.
Admittance by age - 1,227 between the ages of 18-25, 1,117 between the ages of 26-35, 1,032 between the ages of 36-50, 290 between the ages of 51-65 and 32 age 66 and older.
Admittance by gender - 2,915 men, 783 women.
"There'd be a lot of times where you'd come in the morning and see 56 inmates at the main jail," Negen said. "We had them sleeping on the floor, sleeping in different areas. You can't run a facility at 120 percent all the time."
Negen said when the new jail was being planned, he figured the average number of prisoners would be 175-180. That, however, didn't happen.
The jail has averaged only about 150 inmates, and in the past six months its state-issued license was changed to a maximum of 216 inmates.
This 60-bed pod at the Crow Wing County Jail currently sits empty as the number of inmates incarcerated at the jail has declined. The pod, one of three at the jail, is used in a rotation that allows jail staff to perform cleaning and maintenance. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
"The numbers just dropped through the floor," Negen said. The result is the sheriff's department hasn't filled five staff positions and has closed one of its three pods.
Dahl noted the jail recently had 201 inmates, the highest ever housed in Crow Wing County.
"Predicting in this line of work is very tough," Dahl said. "We just go about our business every day. It certainly is nice to have a staff that can adapt as well as they have, where we can be up as high as 201 one day and down as low as 130 the next. They can adapt to that fluctuation.
"Certainly we aren't exempt from the economy and the downfall we've seen. We've felt the squeeze but we're going to do whatever we can to fall within the parameters of the budget. I think we've done a good job in doing that."
Lt. Heath Fosteson, assistant jail administrator, and Sgt. Darnel Carlson, administrative sergeant, chatted recently in an empty 60-bed pod at the Crow Wing County Jail. The jail opened with a maximum capacity for 286 inmates. Recently the jail had to change its capacity license to 216 because of falling inmate numbers. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
The reasons for the drop in inmate population are many.
One is the introduction of diversion programs such as drug court and DWI court, which currently has about 50 participants who might otherwise be serving jail terms for their crimes.
Another reason is the number of Cass County inmates is less than projected. In January, Cass County changed its contract with Crow Wing County, dropping from 60 beds to 40 beds at the jail. Only about half of Cass County's beds are filled.
Cass County Sheriff Randy Fisher said the number of inmates from Cass County has been decreasing but finding the exact reason why wasn't possible.
Overall, severe crimes have been dropping, not just in Cass County but across the state, Fisher said. The use of home electronic monitoring instead of jailing for serving sentences, reducing recidivism and rehabilitation also could factor into fewer inmates, he said.
"I think if anyone did come up with a reason why crime is dropping they'd make a lot of money," Fisher said. "I know our numbers when we were planning the new jail were steadily increasing. When it opened that turned out to not be the case. But, you know, that's actually good news."
What jail officials also are not seeing is the poor economy having an impact on the number of people in the jail, due to more crimes being committed or people being unable to post bond or bail.
In fact, it would appear most crimes are on the decrease in Crow Wing County.
A look at Crow Wing County Jail statistics from 2008 and 2009 show declines in many categories of crimes. Intakes for DWIs fell from 1,063 in 2008 to 931 in 2009, thefts fell from 411 in 2008 to 321 in 2009 and drugs fell from 358 in 2008 to 343 in 2009.
Areas where intakes increased between 2008 and 2009 were for assaults, from 429 in 2008 to 434 in 2009, and probation violations, from 289 in 2008 to 414 in 2009.
Negen noted the length of jail stay is down, from an average of 14 days to 10 days.
Crow Wing County Attorney Don Ryan said crime numbers are down across the state. And more severe crimes, such as felony DWI, are drawing prison sentences instead of jail sentences.
Ryan also pointed to the specialty courts helping people turn their lives around, as well as initiatives outside of the criminal justice system such as early family intervention and early child welfare.
"I think Crow Wing County has been active in the last decade and I think we're starting to see the benefits," Ryan said.
Dahl said looking at the decrease in DWIs, and noting that Brainerd is off the list of 13 deadliest counties for impaired driving in the state, shows better education and communication between law enforcement and residents.
To offset the drop in Crow Wing and Cass inmates the jail has been housing inmates from other counties, including Todd, Wadena, Stearns, Kanabec and Douglas; and has been contracting with the Department of Corrections to house state prisoners, which at any time can house as many as 60 prisoners at the jail.
What sells the Crow Wing County Jail to other agencies is what it has to offer that many other jails can't - mental health, medical and dental services in house; and about 40 programs, including worker training, a library, Teen Challenge, an art room, Bible studies, parenting courses, quilting, Alcoholics Anonymous and General Education Development programs.
"The big thing is, there are a ton of beds in the state that anybody can rent," Negen said. "We want to sell a service with the bed. That's why we get prisoners from all over, because we have a service no one else can provide and we have the facility for the services needed."
Dahl said the programs are offered as a form of rehabilitation.
"You have to keep those people busy. We want them to learn something because they have to change their ways," Dahl said.
In return for housing state prisoners and inmates from other counties, Crow Wing County receives $56.10 per prisoner per day, above the $55 fee set by the county board. Cass County pays 22.2 percent of the jail budget, or about $46.99 per inmate.
Negen said he would like to see the jail at about 90 percent capacity. He said the sheriff's department uses a philosophy that the jail is like a business.
"The more we can offset costs the better it is for the budget and the county," Negen said.
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.