19 INMATES RELEASED TO CLEAR BEDS FOR SWEEP

About the middle of last week, Will County law enforcement authorities
realized they had a problem: The perpetually overcrowded county jail
was far beyond capacity and a planned drug sweep soon would swell
inmate ranks even higher.

The only solution: Have Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow
request that bonds be reduced on some inmates considered non-violent,
freeing them temporarily while they await trial.

If having the county prosecutor ask that a prisoner's bond be reduced
seems a bit odd, it seemed that way to Glasgow too.

"I'm not the defense attorney, but we had no other choice," Glasgow
said Sunday.

Thus, 19 inmates went before a Will County Circuit Court judge on
Thursday and had their bonds reduced to personal recognizance or to a
level they could pay. They were freed later that day.

By Thursday, the number of jail inmates had reached 409, even though
the 10-year-old jail has just 284 beds, Glasgow said. More than 120
prisoners were sleeping on mattresses tossed on the concrete floor of
cells designed for one person, Glasgow said.

He emphasized that many of those released already had been
incarcerated longer than the maximum sentence they would have served
if convicted on all charges. Some faced only traffic offenses and had
bonds of just $200 or $300, while others were accused of "absolutely
non-violent felonies," he said.

Having to release prisoners in such a manner rankled the prosecutor,
who complained that defense attorneys should have requested reduced
bonds long ago.

"In nearly every case, these people were sitting in jail and there was
no need for them to sit, unless we want to open a debtor's prison,"
Glasgow said. "Why in the hell should we have the taxpayers pay for
them to sit there when they've already served longer than they would
be sentenced to?"

Early Friday, Joliet police arrested 31 people on charges of
distributing crack cocaine in a sweep of three city neighborhoods. Law
enforcement officials on duty Sunday declined to speculate how many of
those arrested remained in the jail.

Crowding should be eased in a few weeks when a new $10 million
juvenile detention facility opens on the city's west side.