Duval County's incarceration rate exceeds other big counties as city considers new jail

Duval County's incarceration rate is higher than the statewide average and other big urban counties in Florida, putting Jacksonville at a crossroads in its planning for a new jail that would replace the overcrowded facility in downtown at a cost that could hit $1 billion.

Duval County's jail facilities held an average of 3,649 inmates per day in January, but if the county incarceration rate were the same as the statewide average, Duval County's facilities would have held 2,486 inmates, according to a Times-Union analysis of monthly data compiled by the Florida Department of Corrections.

Duval County's incarceration rate is the highest among the 10 largest counties in Florida and could further increase if a new county jail became a "build in and fill it" facility with more beds for housing inmates.

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An ongoing study by a special City Council committee about the "jail of the future" has not determined how many beds a new jail should have. City Council member Michael Boylan, who is chairman of the committee, said the the goal should be to have fewer people in jail while ensuring hardened criminals are still held behind bars.

"We want to be somewhat purposeful in keeping the number (of inmates) down so we find solutions to the problem," Boylan said. "Outcomes are what we're looking for, and outcomes are about moving them through the system, not detaining them within the system."

That would mark a change from what's happened since Jacksonville built the John E. Goode Pre-Trial Detention Center, which is the largest of the city's three detention facilities.

It opened in 1991 with a capacity for 2,189 beds. At the time, it was the fifth-largest county jail in the nation. But the number of people held in the jail awaiting trail filled up all of those beds. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office then increased the use of triple-bed cells to boost the capacity to about 2,630 inmates.

The overcrowding is "worsened by an aging building with no room for expansion and deteriorating conditions causing high maintenance costs," according to initial findings by the special committee.

Even using portable beds to increase capacity at the pre-trial detention center hasn't been enough to hold all the inmates who have not yet been sentenced. The Montgomery Correctional Center on the Northside held 469 unsentenced inmates and the Community Transition Center held another 89 unsentenced inmates, according to information compiled by the special committee.

Jacksonville jail committee says mental health service is crucial

The special committee's working groups have emphasized a new jail must be able to provide mental health services for people who would be better served by treatment than repeatedly being incarcerated. The committee found that about 40% of inmates are affected by mental health illnesses.

"I cringe almost every time I hear our pre-trial detention facility referred to as the largest mental health facility in Northeast Florida," City Council member Rahman Johnson said. "It should not be that way."

Other discussion has centered on the impact of poor inmates being held in jail simply because they cannot post the bail that others can afford while awaiting trial on non-violent charges.

Public Defender Charlie Cofer said "far too many people" are held in jail who really don't need to be there while awaiting for cases such as non-violent misdemeanors to go through the court system.

"If they had a friend with $150 who could post a $1,500 bond, they'd be out, but they don't even have that," Cofer said.

Cofer, who is serving on one of the working groups for the special committee, said the cost of a jail isn't just the expense of building it. He said the more people the jail holds, the higher that cost of operating it becomes over a period of 30 to 40 years. "We're talking about millions and millions and millions of dollars," Cofer said.

"We need a new jail," Cofer said. "Our present jail's mechanical systems are failing. It's just worn out. But the question is do we just automatically need a bigger jail or a much bigger jail than we have now?"

The overcrowding at the main jail in downtown has driven interest in building a new jail campus outside of downtown, possibly on the Northside. Boylan has said the "back of envelope" projections for the cost could be in the range of $1 billion. City Council President Ron Salem said he's heard estimates ranging from $500 million to $800 million.

The ongoing study has not pinpointed the cost or how many beds a new jail should have.

Salem, who created the special City Council committee, said he thinks it would be in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 beds. "But I think the most important part of that is the ability to expand 5, 10, 15 years from now so we're building a structure that can grow as the population grows and the need grows, which is the problem where we are today," Salem said.

Boylan said he he thinks a new county jail might have "up to 3,000 beds" but those would have a mix of the traditional beds for holding people along with beds for people who can benefit from programs that will lessen the chance of them being re-arrested after their release.

"If hardened criminals need to be detained in a traditional sense, absolutely we want to continue to do that," Boylan said. "It's all about creating a facility that speaks to the kinds of people who are being arrested for behavioral issues and mental health issues beyond just the hardened criminal component."

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office operates three detention facilities: the main jail in downtown, the Montgomery Correctional Center on the Northside, and the Community Transition Center in downtown on Catherine Street.

The combined inmate population of those facilities adds up the average daily inmate population in the monthly Florida Department of Corrections report that tracks inmate populations for local detention facility in every county. The statewide average was about 240 inmates per 100,000 residents.

Duval County incarceration tops other big Florida counties

Among the 10 largest counties in the state, seven counties had incarceration rates in January below the statewide average: Palm Beach had about 140 inmates per 100,000 county residents while Broward and Miami-Dade each had 160 inmates per 100,000 residents.

Orange and Lee counties were each at about 190 inmates per 100,000 residents, Hillsborough County was at 200 inmates per 100,000 residents and Brevard County also was under the statewide average at 230 inmates per 100,000 residents.

Duval County was one of three large counties above the statewide average: Pinellas County was at about 310 inmates per 100,000 residents, Polk County was at 330 inmates, and Duval County was at about 350 inmates per 100,000 residents.

Northside Coalition of Jacksonville President Kelly Frazier said if the city builds a bigger jail without any changes to the policies that result in the high incarceration rate, the city will end up back in the same box it's in now.

The Northside Coalition is calling for creating an an adult civil citation program, starting a Group Violence Intervention program, reforming the bail system, adding more mental health "co-responders" to accompany police on calls, and launching a "Marshal Plan" amount of investment in underserved areas for housing, jobs, healthcare and education.

The creation of an adult civil citation program has been discussed but it's not clear whether that will be part of the final report. That program would enable the Sheriff's Office to issue a civil citation rather than making an arrest for minor offenses that leave people with criminal records.

Sheriff T.K. Waters has said he supports the use of civil citations in juvenile cases but not for adults. The special City Council committee found that in the 4th Judicial Circuit that contains Duval County, there has been an 85% increase in the use of the "notice to appear" approach that requires people to go to court without first arresting them, an approach that means they don't go to jail but still go through the criminal court system.

Boylan said the special committee's focus is on how to design a jail campus that will achieve better outcomes in terms of how long people stay in jail based on the reason for them being arrested. He said the new jail also should have facilities for a bigger infirmary along with mental health services and vocational training.

"I think our role is to say what kind of facility do we need to build to support the services in support of JSO and this community," Boylan said.

Jacksonville is not alone in taking a hard look at what its jail should be able to do because jails "in the old days" were designed when the United States had a mental health care system that no longer exists, said Rodney Moss, a board member for the Association for the Improvement of American Infrastructure.

"So what these jails are being asked to do today was never what they were designed or intended for," he told the special City Council committee. "I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm just saying it's a fact, so what ends up happening is you get overcrowding."

He said the work of the special committee has build a "political understanding of the problem" but it would take at least a year of intensive design and financial studies to make "good smart decisions about what you need today, what you need tomorrow and how to phase it."

The special committee will issue a written report compiling its findings and recommendations.