MIAMI COUNTY IS BLOCK FULL OF INMATES

On an average night, a couple dozen inmates at the Miami County Jail
sleep on mattresses thrown down on concrete cell floors. It's not a
new get-tough-on-crime scheme, though. There simply isn't space for
all of the prisoners.

Overcrowding at the 20-year-old jail is putting the safety of both
inmates and jailers at risk, according to Sheriff Charlie McCord, and
solutions are needed quickly.

"It's a safety hazard to the staff as well as the inmates," McCord
said.

During the July Fourth weekend, McCord said 37 inmates slept on mats,
with 20 to 25 sleeping on the floor most nights.

Sgt. Bill Gebhart, the jail commander, said there are 50 beds for
inmates, who get testy when cramped together.

"Tensions and tempers get real short when you're in a confined area
built for six inmates and there's nine or ten in there," Gebhart said.

One option to reduce the crowding would be to add a third floor to the
jail, but current state regulations on county jails would only allow
about 12 to 15 additional prisoners to be housed.

That would leave five to 10 prisoners to sleep on mats on a regular
basis and the cost could be more than $1 million.

But less expensive options for reducing the overcrowding are already
being looked at by county judges, the sheriff and prosecutor.

Miami Circuit Court Judge Bruce Embrey said the court wants to look
into releasing non-violent first-time offenders without bond before
their trial.

Embrey said such offenses could include public intoxication, check
deception, minor consumption and possession of marijuana.

"That would have a fairly immediate effect on the jail population
because those are high volume crimes," Embrey said. "I'm hoping we can
get people up off the floor and into bunks most of the time. We have
not been able to let people serve weekend sentences for some time and
we need to do that."

Right now, most of those minor offenders are held on a $3,000 surety,
and can pay $300 cash to get out. Those who can't pay are dealt with
on a case-by-case basis, but not until there is a hearing.

Embrey said those who commit check deception would still be arrested
and booked before release, since those offenders have a poor record of
showing up at court after a summons is issued.

Though the overcrowding at the jail is serious, Embrey said no violent
offenders would be released without bond.

"We would not release anyone who committed battery, even misdemeanor
battery, resisting an officer or any semblance of a violent act,"
Embrey said.

Miami County could put those measures into place within the next
couple weeks, officials said. Even so, there will likely still be
occasions when some inmates have to sleep on mats.

Embrey said he does worry being more lenient with offenders could
encourage more people to commit petty crimes, but believes it is the
lesser of two evils.

"Once you hit a point of having an average population above the
capacity rating of the jail all the time, you're running the risk of
the state stepping in and forcing you to do something," Embrey said.
"These measures will temporarily solve the problem, and I'd like to
put off building a jail as long as possible, because the economy of
the county isn't that strong right now."

Commissioner Mike Morris said he wasn't in the camp of building a new
jail yet, but said the county is looking into doing a study to find
out how much it would cost.

He blames the overcrowding on lowered morals, and said 30 years ago
the county got by with a 12-person jail.

"We don't need to build inmates a hotel, which some places seem to be
doing," Morris said. "People have no fear of the law and they go out
and do whatever they want and it just seems to be getting worse."