Limited jail space forces early releases

PORTLAND – Lack of space is forcing the Clatsop County jail to release many offenders early, according to the latest of several studies on overcrowding at the 26-year-old facility in downtown Astoria.

In a report released Friday, a Clatsop County grand jury wrote that the county needs a new, larger jail.

Sheriffs around the state say many of the inmates they put behind bars for minor crimes such as property or drug charges are being let out to make room for more serious offenders — endangering public safety and lessening the threat of incarceration.

Friday’s report comes after two months of investigation by the seven grand jury members, who interviewed Clatsop County Sheriff John Raichl, Circuit Court Judge Paula Brownhill and other local officials.

“There’s been a lot of anguish about the need for a jail, how we’re going to build it,” said District Attorney Josh Marquis, who also spoke to the panel.

In their report, grand jury members recommended building a 140-bed jail to replace the current 64-bed facility — and the 20 or so beds county corrections now rent from neighboring Tillamook County.

They also suggested that the old jail building be used to house a planned Community Corrections Transition Center, which will offer job training, drug and alcohol treatment, and other services.

But some, including Sheriff Raichl, say that would be too expensive.

Art Martinak, executive director of the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association, said county officials have long struggled to keep the most dangerous criminals behind bars despite overflowing and underfunded facilities.

Nearly all Oregon sheriff’s departments now use what is known as a matrix system, which assigns each inmate a number based on the severity of his or her crime. The lowest numbers are given to the inmates awaiting trial, or those charged with nonviolent offenses.

Those offenders are the first to be released when jails overfill, said Martinak, a former Linn County sheriff.

Lane County officials expect to release 5,000 people under the matrix system this year. That’s after a lack of state and county funding closed a total of 119 beds last July, said Capt. John Clague of the Lane County Sheriff’s Department.

Clague said voters have been reluctant to pay more taxes for jails. “It’s been such a long-term issue that they’re somewhat desensitized to the problem,” he said, noting that Lane County has been using the matrix system since 1987.

But even in counties where levies have succeeded, jails are still struggling to find space, said Deschutes County Sheriff Les Stiles.

Deschutes County voters easily passed a three-year, $12 million levy in May, allowing the sheriff’s department to avoid cutting its inmate population in half. That levy will pay for current jail operations but does nothing to budget for future demands on the facility, Stiles said.

“We have no room at the inn. The jail’s full,” he said. And as time goes by, jails will have to release inmates with increasingly serious crimes, Stiles said.

“It’s inevitable that another tragedy is going to happen,” Stiles said. “Every time a sheriff decides to matrix a person out, they’re rolling the dice.”

County officials also worry that would-be criminals will become more confident if they’re sure of being back on the streets in a matter of hours.

“People know that if they violate their probation or they don’t show up in court, there’s no place to lock them up,” said Martinak.

“The whole system starts to collapse because you’re short that one jail bed.”