|
|
| Ingham County to discuss jail cuts today |
| By Christine Rook , lansingstatejournal.com |
| Published: 02/11/2010 |
|
Ingham County panel to discuss jail cuts today Committee could pave way for move or propose alternative cuts Ingham County's $2.3 million 2010 budget deficit remains in play. And still up for discussion is a controversial proposal to shrink the county jail by six jobs and 64 beds. The jail, which has a local inmate capacity of 499, is expected to be one of the main points of discussion tonight at the county commission's Law Enforcement Committee meeting in south Lansing. Closing a jail post in July would save $319,000 this year and twice that every year after that. But there are consequences. The jail, for example, already is frequently over capacity. The loss of 64 beds is expected to aggravate that and cause even more inmates to be released early. "That's 64 more prisoners - the victims aren't going to see justice," sheriff's Maj. Joel Maatman said. "Overcrowding is going to be an everyday occurrence," he said. The jail had to release inmates 55 times in 2009, letting 2,054 inmates go home early. There's some pressure on the Law Enforcement Committee tonight to either agree that the post - which is one of 10 at the jail - needs to close or identify other ways to balance the budget. The controller already has identified $1.7 million in cuts, including one-time procedural changes and adjustments. The Finance Committee last week added to the list, agreeing, for example, to cut a sheriff's deputy and to cut the jail post. If the Law Enforcement Committee doesn't come up with a viable alternative, then on Feb. 23 the full Board of Commissioners still has the option to approve cutting the post. The board was to vote this week, but Tuesday's snowstorm forced cancellation of the meeting. "The longer we wait, the worse off we are," said Commissioner Andy Schor, D-Lansing, a member of the Finance Committee. "On the 23rd, we're going to consider something." Commissioner and Law Enforcement Chairwoman Dianne Holman, D-Meridian Township, indicated there might not be a complete solution coming out of tonight's meeting. Her goal, she said, is to make certain that alternative sentencing programs that the county has are in place and actually work before cutting beds at the jail. Read More. |
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
If you just got hit in a car accident, it can be hard to know who to talk to, if anybody. If you have been in a t-bone accident waco , then calling Dunnam & Dunnam is the right choice. It is one of the best decisions that you can make for your car wreck case. Choosing a great lawyer is important to the outcome of your matter.
Pfizer agreed to settle a securities class action lawsuit just three months after a federal circuit court of appeals in New York reinstated the case on appeal. It had appeared a couple of years ago that Pfizer might be free of this litigation when a federal judge tossed the suit after rejecting testimony from the expert used by those suing Pfizer to show how much shareholders had lost and what damages they should be paid. One of the lawyers originally representing Mary K. Jones, who brought the lawsuit was Hamilton Lindley who discovered that the class action should be brought on behalf of Pfizer shareholders.