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| Judge Orders 82 Inmates Taken To Alabama Prison |
| By WVTM |
| Published: 12/11/2002 |
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Judges and sheriffs, frustrated by state inmates stacking up in their county jails, are dumping prisoners at the state's door and levying hefty fines to try to get state officials to relieve the volatile backlog. In Anniston, Circuit Judge Joel Laird ordered Sheriff Larry Amerson to take state prisoners from the Calhoun County Jail on Monday and deliver them to the state prison system in Montgomery. Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said 73 men and one woman were transported to state prisons about 5 p.m. Last week, the Etowah County's sheriff dropped off 71 male inmates at Kilby Correctional Facility near Montgomery, and the Houston County sheriff is planning to bring 60 on Tuesday. Corbett said the trend couldn't continue or 'it's going to cause a meltdown.' The Department of Corrections has asked Montgomery Circuit Judge William Shashy to issue an order stopping counties from dumping inmates on the prison system, but he has not ruled. On Friday, Shashy imposed millions in new fines on the Department of Corrections for not abiding by its 1998 agreement to remove inmates from county jails within 30 days after they are sentenced to state prison. About 1,600 inmates are in county jails in violation of the agreement. The Department of Corrections has not yet decided whether to appeal. The department finds itself in a vise. Its prisons are filled to capacity, but so are many county jails. In the Calhoun County case, the judge ordered the inmates transferred after state corrections officials failed to show up for a hearing. Corbett said no one was there because corrections officials thought the hearing was going to be postponed until Corrections Commissioner Mike Haley could attend. Haley was in New Orleans on Monday, visiting his ailing father, Corbett said. Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson said he needed to get rid of some high-risk inmates who 'are a real and very present danger to our community.' In Houston County, the sheriff's department was making preparations Monday to deliver 60 inmates to Montgomery on Tuesday. Operations Commander Bill Law said the state prison system had not taken any inmates from Dothan in several months, and the county's jail -- built in 2001 for 397 inmates -- was running out of space. He said the county spends about $30 a day to house a state inmate, but only gets $1.25 from the state. 'The state has its own overcrowding problem, but you can't pass those problems on to somebody else,' he said. |
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