State prison cell shortage raises concerns
There’s no talk of releasing prisoners in state custody before their sentences end, but the state penitentiary faces a shortage of cells for the increasing number of convicts sentenced to state custody. Overcrowding at the penitentiary and related facilities means prison officials need to start ranking prisoners sentenced to incarceration by the state on a priority basis, according to Forum.
North Dakota’s prison system has reached its “maximum operational capacity,” according to a Monday news release from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and it has implemented a “prioritization plan” that allows the DOCR to refuse inmates sentenced to its custody.
“Public safety continues to be our top priority as we enter prioritization,” DOCR Director Colby Braun said in the release.
State corrections officials say the number of male prisoners housed at the penitentiary has surpassed the maximum of 1,624 inmates for more than a year. The development puts more pressure on county jails, which will bear the brunt of the backlog of inmates waiting to be moved to the state prison.
“It affects us immensely,” Jahner told The Forum. “We don’t have the capacity to hold those inmates sentenced to the State Penitentiary. If the plan continues for any length of time, it will diminish our office’s ability to provide public safety.”
Jahner said on average, between two and six Cass County Jail inmates are sentenced to DOCR facilities every week.
The ranking process buys the state prison time for inmates to complete their sentences for the immediate future. The most dangerous individuals go to the top of the list.
The prioritization plan allows the DOCR to refuse to admit inmates sentenced to its custody, meaning those inmates will now stay in the county jails where they were housed while they awaited sentencing.
State law requires the DOCR to develop a prison population management plan to prioritize admissions based on sentences and the availability of space in the State Penitentiary and its affiliated facilities, according to the release.
“Offenders convicted of violent Class AA, A and B felony offenses receive first priority for incarceration,” the release said.
The process of prioritizing prisoners will only buy so much time, if the trend toward higher incarceration rates continues. Meantime, Jahner points to the possible impact on public safety.
“Eventually the word is going to get around, right?” Jahner asked.
He said they’ll have to get creative over the next few months in balancing capacity issues with public safety. Collaboration with the court system and the department’s community supervision unit, which monitors people with ankle bracelets, will be key.
“We’re going to look at what is the person being arrested for, what kind of a crime? Was it a violent crime? Does that person have a violent history? Have they been violent with other people in the past?” Jahner said.
The addition of nearly 200 beds to the Cass County jail soon will take off some of the pressure. But state policy makers may soon need to consider adding more state prison beds, given the rising rate of incarceration.