IN LAKE COUNTY, JAIL POPULATION IS MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER

Lowdown On Lockups: Paying Bonds In Timely Manner One Key To Lowering
Population

CROWN POINT -- When a group of inmates at the Lake County Jail got
into a scuffle regarding some smuggled marijuana one Friday
afternoon, Assistant Warden Yvonne Haley had options to deal with the fight.

Never mind how a male prisoner can smuggle drugs on his person into a
jail. Haley had to find out if anyone had contraband, and to do that
she would have to empty out the cell before it could be swept.

A year ago, that would have been a problem because of overcrowding.
But on this day, it would not be a problem to find new prison beds for the men.

Last spring the jail topped out at a dangerously high population of
1,243 inmates -- about 200 more people than the jail was built to hold.

Having such a large population is bad not only because of the extra
strain it puts on the jail work force but also because inmates can't
be moved from place to place in a routine emergency, such as a fight.
Jailors also need open cells to segregate populations of felons from
misdemeanants, or rival gang members from one another, jail and
county officials say.

"The guideline is 20 percent of your jail should be empty for
classification purposes," Haley said. "When you've got every bed
full, you don't have a lot of options."

Today, the population hovers between 900 and 1,000 inmates, thanks to
the concerted efforts of judges, attorneys and government officials,
jail officials said. And goals of furthering lowering the population
are being set.

County Commissioner Gerry Schueb said the Jail Oversight Committee
should set a goal of reducing the population to about 800.

"You have to balance the safety of the citizens and the population of
the jail," Lake Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell said. "When
you're more aware of (the overcrowding problem), you think about who
you keep in jail."

Officials say one of the most effective tools in driving down the
population exists in a small room in the bowels of the jail where
white concrete walls and steel benches give way to wood paneling and
padded chairs.

Judges now hold Saturday bond court in a courtroom inside the jail,
essentially to allow anyone who has not yet seen a judge to do so. On
any given Saturday, 12 to 33 suspects get their bond hearings in the
room. The technique has helped diminish the jail's population.

Another method has been the unified bond schedule, which recently was
enacted to make sure offenders arrested in various town and city
jurisdictions pay the same bonds for the same crimes. Cantrell said
judges have also tried to use the work release facility more heavily
and to hand down slightly shorter jail terms for less severe crimes.

"From my perspective, I want to make sure we are incarcerating in our
jail those who are a menace to our community -- at the same time,
ensuring that the cost of running the jail is done in a fiscally
responsible way to ensure savings for the taxpayer," Sheriff Rogelio
"Roy" Dominguez said.

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Lake County Jail

* Original "linear" jail opened 1973. New "podular" expansion opened in 2001.
* Podular expansion cost $30 million.
* Multilevel facility that links two essentially separate jails, one
linear and one podular
* Designed to fit 1,060 beds
* Number of inmates has fluctuated between 1,243 and 900 in past year.
* Several dozen inmates are federal, and several dozen more arrived
when Gary closed its city jail
* Each inmate costs the county $66 per day, plus medical costs.
* Total budget of jail is $12.4 million, including more than $3
million for inmate health care
* Staff of 180 corrections officers, who earned $1.18 million in
overtime in 2006

* Lake County Jail has a staff of 55 to 60 trustee inmates who
prepare food, run the commissary, clean the jail, staff the personal
possessions locker and other duties.
* Inmates are assessed a $25 fee to be processed into the jail, but
pay no room and board fee. They can buy various hygiene and medical
items from the commissary with their own money, or funds that are sent to them.