The Dakota County, Iowa Board of Commissioners approved a $35,000 contract Monday for an in-depth analysis of its entire criminal justice system in an effort to curb the costs of running an over-full jail.

The consultant is David Voorhis of Voorhis/Robertson Justice Services, Inc., of Boulder, Colo. He will begin work immediately and is have the analysis completed by Feb. 15, 2004. Commissioner Jackie Hartnett said the city wanted to get a consultant from out of the area, so no one could claim the consultant was biased toward people they knew.

A similar analysis was done for Douglas County, Neb., and resulted in substantial savings, said Lyle Todd, board chairman. For example, even something as simple as changing the location of a copy machine to make it easier for attorneys to use after court resulted in an average of one less day in the Douglas County Jail per prisoner, as paperwork was speeded up.

The county is reeling under bills due other counties for housing its overflow prisoners. Voters turned down bond issues to construct a new jail facility last November and again in May. A series of town meetings held throughout the county to inform voters of the necessity and building plan failed to win over enough believers to approve a pared-down project on May 20.

The consultant will assess and evaluate the current criminal justice system policies and practices including arrest, release, bonding, detention, house arrest, sentencing and other sanctions as they affect the jail population. It will extend to prosecution, pre-trial, parole and probation, bond and bail setting, and the speed of getting cases through court.