Backlog in state prison system creates problem for county jails

17357285





   



     Overcrowding in county jails across Arkansas continues to be a serious problem for sheriff’s including here in Baxter County. During a recent interview with KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News, Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery identified two issues as contributors to the problem. One is the incarceration of inmates with mental health issues and the other is the backlog created by overpopulation in the state prison system. This, the second of a two part series based on the sheriff’s interviews, will focus on recidivism rates, regulations and excessive case loads given to probation and parole officers which create backlog and overpopulation in state prisons and county jails.

     Montgomery says Arkansas’ recidivism rate, the rate at which released prisoners return to prison, is almost 50 percent.


Listen:



right-click to download mp3

   

     Montgomery says regulations, especially those put in place in recent years, require jailers to segregate inmates based on their offense, adding to the overcrowding issue.


Listen:



right-click to download mp3

   

     Another of the many issues within the system, according to Montgomery, is the excessive case load given to probation and parole officers.


Listen:



right-click to download mp3

   

     According to Montgomery, because probation and parole officers have to focus on those with the most severe crimes, those who are in the system for minor offenses tend to reoffend thus, adding to the overcrowding issue.

     The backlog of inmates in Arkansas’ state prisons has become such an issue that county jails across the state will, inevitably, have to consider building new facilities or expanding the current ones. Montgomery says, the Baxter County Detention Center, which was built in 2004, will soon have to make the same considerations.


Listen:



right-click to download mp3

   

     Montgomery says he and Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass have discussed the possibility of an expansion to the Baxter County Detention Center in the future. As of now, it has only been talk, and no plans have been made.

     

     

WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI