County commits funds to alternative sentencing

By Dan MacArthur
North Forty News

Larimer County will spend $12.5 million in rainy-day funds to expand alternative sentencing programs and delay a far more costly expansion of the jail.

County commissioners in July agreed to tap reserves to construct a new $10 million alternative sentencing building and spend $2.5 million for remodeling the current work-release into a re-entry facility for up to 50 low-security prisoners.

Despite depleting dear reserves accumulated over years, the commissioners agreed the move was necessary and sensible. They said the project would buy time until the jail must be expanded at an estimated cost of up to $80 million. Further, they noted, the plan would avoid debt by using funds already in hand.

"We can't afford to do nothing," said Commissioner Steve Johnson. "This is a fiscally responsible thing to do."

The new 46,000-square-foot alternative sentencing structure will be located west of the jail on Midpoint Drive. It will provide 168 beds for offenders in the work-release program, 86 for those serving overnight sentences in the weekend and mid-week workender programs, and office space for staff administering the public service and electronic monitoring programs.

The work-release program enables offenders to keep their jobs while returning for overnight detention until completing their sentences. The workender program allows offenders to complete their sentences a few evenings at a time on weekends or during the week while working for nonprofit agencies in supervised crews.

The alternative sentencing programs are aimed at diverting those convicted of less-serious misdemeanor offenses from costly incarceration in a jail that is frequently at full capacity. It currently costs about $125 a day to house inmates in the jail compared with $35 in the work-release program, which can recover almost half those costs from offenders.

Construction funding will come from $9.5 million in general fund reserves and $3 million in criminal justice reserves specifically set aside for such needs.

County budget director Bob Keister said use of the reserve funds is prudent because it offers a better return on investment than the minimal interest the county is currently earning.

Keister said the expenditure for alternative sentencing leaves some $25 million in general fund reserves. He said that should be sufficient to cover most contingencies, unless Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 pass this November. If voters approve those tax-limitation measures, he said, the resulting sudden dramatic budget cuts could require dipping into reserves again.

The commissioners are committed to preserving remaining reserves, although Keister said property values – and corresponding tax revenues – are expected to decline 6 to 8 percent in 2012. Consequently, he said, the commissioners have directed overall budget reductions of 2 percent this year and 4 percent in each of the following two years.

"They're going to keep squeezing down," Keister said.

Additional jail space has for years been recognized as a critical need. Built in 1983 under a court mandate to remedy unconstitutional incarceration conditions, the jail originally housed up to 152 prisoners. With subsequent expansions, it now has a maximum capacity of 557 prisoners.

Criminal justice services director Gary Darling told the commissioners in a June work session that the jail functionally can house no more than 446 prisoners. He said the current average daily population is 478, although funding is provided for only 460 prisoners.

It's a similar situation with the current alternative sentencing facility. Built in 1992 to accommodate 32 beds, Darling said it now contains 112 beds with no capacity to house workenders. He said the staff works in dismal conditions, crammed into a former closet.

"The problem is we don't have the space anymore to move people from the jail to something else," he said.

While surveys show citizens rate public safety as a top priority, they have solidly rejected a series of ballot issues to increase criminal justice funding.

The current crunch will be compounded with the 2014 expiration of a 0.2 percent sales tax dedicated to jail operations and courthouse facilities construction. Another identical sales tax to finance construction of the justice center expires in 2012.

Commissioners considered but rejected placing a measure on the November ballot to extend those two taxes and apply them to jail operations.

Darling in a later conversation said that the county must inevitably ask for the sales tax extension or dramatically slash other services. When the current tax expires in four years, he said, an estimated $8 million would be required annually to finance criminal justice operations.

In the meantime, Darling said, the county will continue demonstrating creative ways of holding down costs while assisting offenders to transition into contributing members of the community.

"This is the logical program," acknowledged Sheriff Jim Alderden. But from his "cop perspective," he said that he still preferred a new jail to lock up those who belong there