County Commission | The Magazine July 2019 | Page 7

were given an opportunity to
operate, we were assured that
changes would be made to relieve
any unintended consequences.
With that background, you can
understand why the Association left
the press conference with a clear
mission to collect data to paint a
clear picture of the impact the 2015
reforms are having county jails.
Here are few quick facts.
Clearly, the legislative changes
have been a step forward for the
Alabama Department of Corrections.
The in-house population of inmates
has been reduced by 17.5% from the
effective date of the new law through
April of 2019.
During that same time,
population in the community
corrections programs around
the state has remained virtually
unchanged. There were 3,642
people housed in community
corrections in 2014 and 3,597 in
fiscal year 2018.
The population of state inmates
in county jails — those people who
have been sentenced to state custody
but are just sitting in county jails
waiting transport — has steadily
increased since 2014.
For example, in fiscal year 2015,
there were 1,877 state inmates in
county jails, and during fiscal year
2018, the number rose to 2,263
— an increase of more than 20%.
And through the first six months of
fiscal year 2019, we are on pace to
see more than 4,000 state inmates
in county jails. That kind of increase
has produced millions of dollars in
new costs for counties.
In addition, in the past 30
months alone, figures from
the Alabama Department of
Corrections show that on more
than 6,800 occasions, people have
entered county jails for violating
probation or parole. All of these
people were being returned to state
custody before the 2015 reforms,
and their care is now being funded
by counties.
Data available on the website
of the Alabama Department of
Corrections makes it clear —
counties are absorbing much of
the costs of the improvements
being made at the state level. The
Association is gathering more data
— specific numbers on the actual
costs absorbed by counties since
2015 — which will be released early
this fall. At the Annual Convention,
we will discuss this issue in depth.
If there is a special session on this
topic or if legislation is introduced
in the 2020 Regular Session, we
will continue our efforts to be
partners with the state. But it is clear
to us that a solution for the crisis
ballooning inside the 67 county jails
must also be a priority. n
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