JAIL SPACE LIMITS DRU ARRESTS IN COUNTY RAID

The Sheriff's Office arrested 15 alleged drug offenders Monday morning
- -- people who would have probably been picked up earlier if not for an
overcrowded jail.

But authorities said court officials worked hard to keep the jail
population at an even keel, although the figure is still far above the
jail's listed occupancy. The jail population at the start of Monday
was 262, or about 62 people over the official occupancy limit.

And that was before the Sheriff's Office began its roundup of accused
drug offenders -- a list of 43 people.

At a morning meeting, Sheriff Carey Winders expressed doubt that the
jail would be able to hold everyone should drug agents come back with
everyone on that list. Winders said the roundup has even been put off
a few times because authorities were worried about the jail population.

"We have postponed it several times," the sheriff said. "That's bad to
say when you've got warrants hanging out there, because you didn't
have room in the jail. "(But if) you throw in another 40, that's going
to be over 300," Winders said. Court officials saw the problem, too,
however, and moved quickly to process the offenders, Sheriff's Office
officials said.

"Right now, we're back down to 264 (inmates)," said Capt. Fane
Greenfield, who helps to oversee the county jail. "The courts have
really helped us today, and the magistrates have really helped us."

Wayne County magistrates set an unsecured bond for some alleged
offenders, Greenfield said, which also helped keep the population
down. Greenfield was complimentary of new judges taking office, saying
he noticed "a lot of people going to court."

But Greenfield also said he hopes the county will decide to keep its
"jail liaison" position, which has not been refilled since the former
occupant was fired for allegedly falsifying time cards.

County officials complained that Corin Craft, the person who formerly
held the job, also campaigned for her supervisor, former Senior
Resident Superior Court Judge Jerry Braswell, while on the county
clock. County officials said they canceled Ms. Craft's contract
through her employer, Mega Force Staffing Services, for the allegedly
falsified time cards. Despite the turbulent political waters
surrounding the situation, Greenfield said the position seemed to help
control the jail population. "When that position was here, I felt like
it was helping us. I felt like it would be a good position to keep,"
Greenfield said.

In the meantime, the jail still has mattresses on the floor because of
the overcrowding.

Greenfield said the number of inmates must be reduced to around 220 to
get mattresses off the floor. But inmates still have to double-occupy
beds in that situation, the captain said.