COUNCIL SHOULD LOOK TO TASK FORCE'S RECOMMENDATIONS TO EASE JAIL POPULATION

The controversy over criminals being released on bond in Spartanburg
County highlights the need to do something about overcrowding in the
county jail. Officials and judges disagree about the extent to which
overcrowding at the jail is a factor in decisions about setting bond
for violent criminals. It's obviously a factor to the extent that if
more defendants are kept locked up, the county will need more space.
But others acknowledge that judges consider conditions at the jail
when determining bond amounts. Law enforcement officials are unhappy
with the number of criminals being released on bond only to commit
new crimes. They should push the County Council to act on a plan to
address overcrowding.

Earlier this year, the task force submitted a plan to the council
that suggested several methods of reducing crowding at the jail.
First among those suggestions was pursuing alternative sentences for
nonviolent offenders. That includes monitoring some offenders during
a home detention period while awaiting trial and expanding the drug
court to deal with addicts and the crimes they commit.

Nonviolent and drug offenders don't necessarily need to be kept
isolated from the rest of society. Jail space should be reserved for
those who pose a danger. The task force also recommended building a
separate, lower security jail for offenders such as fathers behind in
child support and bad check writers. If the county followed these
recommendations, it could have the space necessary to house the
criminals who need to be locked up. That won't solve the entire
problem. In any system where defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty, those who are accused of crimes will have to have the
chance to stay free until they are convicted. Judges have a difficult
task in deciding who presents a risk to the public and should be
denied that chance. Sometimes, they will be wrong. That's simply unavoidable.

But allowing more criminals on the streets because of a crowded jail
is avoidable. The county has been given a plan to avoid such a
circumstance. It should follow it.