Marion County Jail (courtesy of Marion County Sheriff’s Office)
The Polk County Jail has reduced its population by about three-quarters and the Marion County Jail has reduced its inmate count by about a quarter since the COVID-19 outbreak.
Across Oregon, jails have reduced their numbers in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in a confined population.
Disability Rights Oregon, an advocacy group, released a survey this week detailing how 26 jails across the state reduced the number of people locked up. Polk County showed the largest percentage decrease as it went from 120 to 29 inmates.
Polk County Sheriff Mark Garton said he started looking at how to reduce the jail population around March 10 to accomplish social distancing.
The cells normally house two people and the Polk County Jail also has a dorm setting. Garton said the cells have been reduced to single occupancy and the entire jail population is down to about 45 inmates maximum. Normally the jail houses around 110 to 120 people.
Garton, Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton and judges looked at which inmates were almost done serving their sentences and who was medically fragile to determine who could be released.
Garton said generally 25% of the jail population is serving a sentence while the rest are awaiting trial.
He said it’s like a chess game trying to make the numbers work – balancing public safety with safety of the inmates and jail staff.
Felton said Polk County reserved jail space for the most serious offenders and those who abuse children or engage in assaults.
“These are extraordinary times and we are making decisions we would not normally make during normal times,” he said.
Sgt. Jeremy Landers, Marion County Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said the Marion County Jail normally has a capacity of 415 but that has been reduced to 305.
He said the jail opened a vacant housing unit to spread out inmates and keep cell occupancy to one person.
Landers said the jail has historically been forced to release inmates because of capacity.
The Marion County Jail is controlling the flow into the facility by advising deputies to cite and release offenders instead of booking them into custody.
Before the coronavirus, the jail saw around 40 bookings per day. For the month of April, Landers said there have been 333 bookings total, an average of 11 per day.
On March 17 Disability Rights Oregon and other advocacy groups urged jails to reduce their populations and educate inmates about the importance of hygiene during the pandemic.
Jake Cornett, the nonprofit’s executive director, said the group surveyed jail commanders about inmate population changes and received responses through April 22.
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