NCJ Number
124694
Date Published
1988
Length
82 pages
Annotation
The Leon County, Fla., jail overcrowding project was initiated in response to a rapid increase in the county's jail population and also in response to a lawsuit aimed at overcrowding.
Abstract
County officials did not want to build a new jail until local system causes of overcrowding could be identified and managed. The overall plan was to study overcrowding and attempt to control the demand for beds and then build to meet the unmet demand. The county sponsored a research study of the causes of overcrowding which found that many system-based policy, procedural, and program issues were responsible for significant overcrowding. The second project phase involved developing solutions to overcrowding. Consultants then devised a draft implementation plan for the preferred options. Causes of overcrowding included slow case screening practices by the prosecution and defense, inadequate court calendar management, lack of adequate pretrial release criteria for judges to use at the bail stage, lack of efficient jail population management, need for a field citation in lieu of arrest, and lack of appropriate eligibility criteria for alternatives to custody. Recommended solutions to overcrowding are evaluated. A selected bibliography is appended.