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| Inmate exchange a space-maker in Minnesota |
| By St. Paul Pioneer Press |
| Published: 12/18/2000 |
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The Dakota County Jail is getting a little relief this month through a new inmate-trading program that allows the crowded facility to send male prisoners in exchange for an equal number of female prisoners from other counties. Sheriff Don Gudmundson sees the plan as an alternative to renting beds in other jails when his inmate numbers exceed the 191-person capacity. The Dakota County Jail has 20 beds reserved for women and several programs designed to help female inmates get their lives together -- resources lacking at many of the other jails. So, the sheriff explains, women from jails in Scott or Carver counties have access to more amenities while he can free up beds in the packed men's quarters. So, what's the catch? “Well, we're taking (the women) away from their home areas, so that may make it hard for their family to visit them,'' Gudmundson said. “But women's families do not write them off. They are willing to come and visit.'' Last year, the sheriff's department spent about $90,000 on rented space at other jails, with even more budgeted for this year. Taxpayers foot the $65-a-night bill for shipping an inmate out of the county. As predicted, Gudmundson has said, even the 33 new beds added in April were scant relief for the crowded jail. The inmate-swapping idea came from the realization that while the men's area is usually jam-packed, seldom are all 20 women's beds in use. |
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