State prison to rely more on county jails to fix overcrowding problem

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Corrections will house additional inmates in county jails to help deal with the state prison's overcrowding problem.

The male inmate population at the Utah State Prison is almost at its 6,200 capacity, said Corrections spokesman Steve Gehrke. That includes the facilities at both the Point of the Mountain and Gunnison.

"We're in a tough spot," Gehrke said. "We have been for some time budding right up against (the limit)."

On any given day, there are about 1,225 inmates being held at 21 of the county jails with which the corrections department contracts. As a short-term solution to the overcrowding problem, the Utah Department of Corrections has come up with a one-time solution of spending $1.4 million to increase to 1,265 the number of inmates sent to county jails, he said. That program started last week.

Even more inmates could be sent to county jails in the future on an as-needed basis, Gehrke said.

But that will be enough only o get them to the next legislative session. Corrections officials hope to discuss several possible options with the governor's office during the next legislative session to fix the problem. One option is construction of a parole-violation center. When inmates violate parole, they are typically sent back to prison. The proposed facility would hold most parole violators, freeing up room at the prison.

There was also a proposal to get increased funding for the jail-housing program, Gehrke said.

The trick, he said, was balancing short term needs with long-term solutions. Corrections officials also have discussed the possibility of constructing two additional buildings at the Gunnison prison, but it would take two years once ground was broken before the facilities would be ready for use.

If the prison runs over capacity for 45 days in a row, officials are required to release inmates until the number is in compliance.

The county jails that are used to house prison inmates are typically rural. The Salt Lake County Jail is not one of the 21 facilities used. Both the prison and Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said the jail has overcrowding problems of its own.

Also, the Salt Lake County Jail typically charges more than rural jails charge to keep inmates.

County jails receive $45 per day for each prison inmate they house.