PUBLIC SAFETY JAIL POPULATION TRIGGERS EARLY RELEASE PROCESS

The Oakland County Jail is again officially over its inmate capacity,
triggering a process that could lead to prisoner sentence reductions
and early releases.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard issued an inmate overcrowding
emergency declaration on Wednesday, Feb. 14. If prisoners are
released early, it would be the sixth time since August 2005 that the
county has reduced inmate sentences due to inmate crowding.

The jail is currently housing about 1,859 inmates, which is 31 over
its capacity of 1,828.

"We actually have to get down to 1,803," said Oakland County Court
Administrator Kevin Oeffner. "The statute says that once you're 10
days into jail overcrowding, which we are, you have to get down to 25
(inmates) below capacity."

Historically, over 200 inmates have been released each of the
previous five times an inmate overcrowding emergency was declared,
representing roughly 1,130 early prisoner releases, according to Oeffner.

Under state law, a maximum of 28 days is allotted for the early
release process. As of Wednesday, Feb. 14, Bouchard has 14 days to
provide a list of all inmates to Oakland County Chief Circuit Court
Judge Wendy Potts. If Bouchard takes the full 14 days, Potts will
then have another 14 days to prepare a list of those who are eligible
for sentence reductions.

"We're looking at theft, non-violent, non-assaultive, non-drunk
driving inmates for early release," Potts said. "That's our optimal
group. But then again we do need to get enough to get below 1,803
inmates and give a slight cushion so that we're not back in the same
situation within a few weeks."

Potts said she attributes the jail crowding problem to several factors.

"There's better police work, and there's a lot of people on probation
that tend to violate," she said. "Crime is up and the population is up."

The Oakland County Executive's Office will conduct a poll in the
spring to gauge public support for construction of a new county jail.