URBANA -- After more than three hours of discussion, Champaign County Board members opted Tuesday night to continue studying the need for either a remodeled jail in downtown Urbana or an addition to the satellite jail in east Urbana.
The board declined to take a straw vote on whether to replace beds at the downtown jail, as Tom Betz, the chair of the county board's facilities committee, had suggested.
It's unclear whether the delay will slow down plans to begin some sort of capital improvement by 2015.
Engineer John Frauenhoffer told the board that the downtown Urbana jail could not be expanded upward without building a new frame around the existing building. That would be "fiscally restrictive," he said, adding that building a new structure would be cheaper and more efficient.
"You're going to pay a premium to add additional floor space on this site," he said of the downtown jail.
But Frauenhoffer said the cost to simply remodel the downtown jail without any expansion would be comparable to building a replacement addition to the satellite jail.
There would be other costs, however, including the need to close the downtown jail for a year during the remodel. That would mean housing an average of 50 inmates a day in neighboring county jails.
Sheriff Dan Walsh, who has argued for years that the downtown jail should be closed, said it is in "terrible" condition and "it's not getting any better" in terms of its ability to serve female inmates and those with medical and mental health problems.
At the time the jail was opened in 1980, Frauenhoffer said, "jails were never intended to be hospitals or mental health facilities."
But a large contingent of citizens, many of them members of Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace & Justice, asked the board to look at alternatives to incarceration instead of building more jail space.
"Let's not get stuck in a 20th century rut of building more space to incarcerate people," said William Sullivan of Urbana. He encouraged the board to invest in crime prevention, as well as housing, mental health and job training programs.
County board member Carol Ammons, an Urbana Democrat, noted that while 12 percent of the county's population is African American, more than 50 percent of the jail population is black.
She urged board members to form a public safety review committee to investigate how to reduce spending on incarceration, and said the board should put the jail expansion project to a voter referendum.
Ammons also suggested reallocating money from the county's quarter-cent public safety tax to programs instead of spending it on jail construction.
State's Attorney Julia Rietz said, however, that sales tax money does go into social services, including mentoring, parenting programs and the Boys and Girls Club.
Martell Miller of Champaign, who described himself as a "community ambassador," also argued for spending on programs rather than a new or remodeled jail.
"Let's put the money where it's needed. It's not needed in a new building," Miller said.
Patricia Avery of Champaign, a former chair of the county board, urged board members to look at options to jail construction and to slow down the process.
"There's no benefit to incarceration. I think they only learn to become better criminals," she said. "Take your time. Don't be in a rush to build another building or expanding."
But Betz, an Urbana Democrat who is an attorney and is chair of the board's facilities committee, delivered a stern defense of the county's justice system.
"It bothers me as a liberal to hear these things about the county," he said. He noted that the county operates an adult diversion program, uses home confinement and offers other services.
"We need to understand that we are not jailing people for jaywalking or minor misdemeanors," he said.
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Right, let's develop a fantastic environment for those who commit crimes!!!
Martel "Community Ambassador" Miller and his family certainly are familiar with the inner workings of the County Jail.
Well, it may be okay provided that those released have their foreheads tattooed with their crime. Something like S.O. for Sex Offender, D.O. for Drug Offender, and T. for Thief. Oh.... that might not work. A thief could always add an "e", "x", and ".".................
While CU Citizens has been central to raising consciousness regarding these issues, there are many other avenues through which such awareness has occurred. This was reflected in the turnouot for the session, which went well beyond those regularly involved with CUCPJ. It was inspiring to see so many there; the turnout reflects increased understanding of the racialized nature of incarceration, the ravages that the "war on drugs" inflicts on the African American community, the criminalization of poverty. The unjust economy and the downturn have starved local governments of resources, and increased pressure to spend these resources on punishment rather than services. This must be resisted at all levels.
David Green
I agree with David Green. Jail should be only for violent offenders, not for petty things like drug use or public intoxication. People are in jail for things that did not used to be a crime. Even if someone avoids jail, the other punishment options saddle them with high costs to comply with their punishment. The criminal justice system has become an industry that is bloated and feeds on itself. Defendents who can't afford pricy lawyers are forced to take plea agreements whether they are guilty or not. The system takes millions a year in tax money, while taking even more from defendents. The system is more concerned with writing tickets and raiding bars then they are with stopping violent criminals. The reason for this is that they don't make money sending a violent person to prison for a long time.The whole system makes me want to yak.
I agree with you on judicial reform. How much money one can spend on an attorney is reflective of how much justice one can expect in the courts. Given that; I still have a hard time agreeing with the other points. I do not believe that the economic problems of justice are only for members of one group. It is a socio-economic dilemma for all groups; and it is increasing. I, also, have a problem with the victims of crime, or their family members, not seeing justice when the criminals are released. If someone steals my vehicle, wrecks it in a police chase, is sentenced, and released; do I feel that justice was done, and I feel safe? The real issue is that society cannot afford to build, and maintain enough jails due to the economy. Adding to this, the increase in criminals has grossly enlarged our correction facilities, and overburdened our courts. I have no faith in "programs" to change criminal behavior. I have not seen even meager results from "programs" over the past 50 years. Should we change the state name from Illinois to Illinoissippi? (gov. Hailey Barber's recent decision)
I continue to encourage the county citizens to pay attention to this issue, stay engaged or become engaged, attend CB meetings, express your thoughts, write your CB member, and bring ideas to the board. This is a lot of taxpayer monies that will be used no matter what the decision. Encourage conversations as to what might happen to the downtown jail should a final decision be to expand the satellite jail--will it be torn down at what cost, will it be have a new use at what cost to renovate, what will happen to the land should the jail be torn down. Also encourage consideration of the embodied energy costs in the downtown jail, landfill use, road use removing demolished materials, etc. Unfortunately, not very often are these costs included in the total price of a project.
Below is another extensive resource for materials pertaining to this situation.
www.wsipp.wa.gov/topic.asp [15]
The jail issue is not just a building, but a comprehensive one including a physical building and associated social programs.
The frustration citizens should have is that the criminal justice budgets go up and up and the taxpayers don't get any real change for the expenditure. Incidents of crime are the same in 2010 as they were in 2000. It might feel good to "lock 'em up", but it is the worst government program ever designed to change behavior. It's important to have an audit of this system before lavishing more millions on "insanity"- doing the same thing over and over. It was claimed there exist 13 programs currently operating in the county jail. Adult diversion, juvenile diversion, parenting with limits, drug court, and mental health court were heralded as "see? we are trying to seek alternatives to incarceration." It would be responsible of the county board to lay out the budget of these programs and how many offenders are enrolled in these programs to straighten out behavior. Is unemployment, anger management, alcoholism, drug addiction, and a past criminal record really being dealt with? Or are we feeding cows to watch television all day long so a guard, a cop, a lawyer, a counselor, and a judge have a job at further taxpayer expense? It seems the ultimate in inefficiency to have spent millions on drug court since 1999, and only 144 people have graduated from the program, when you could have sent all of them to college for that kind of money. Champaign County processes about 2000 drug cases a year. It's time to have a hard look at this system and start figuring out what works, and dispense with Sheriff Walsh's apt description of current goings-on: "I run a business."
Local Yocal--I suggest that you and any others involved put the above suggestion in writing in the form of a county board task force charged to gather the information.
"sent all of them to college"? I see blame toward the elected Sheriff, blame toward the public servants, and blame toward society being exhibited; but where is the criminal being blamed? A couple of years ago, I got stuck in a waiting room with a guy waiting also. He asked if I had a job. I said that I did have a job. He indicated that he was being discriminated against in applying for jobs. I asked why he felt that way. He stated that he was an "ex-felon". That confused me at first. I asked him what crimes he had committed. He said they were theft from an employer, and possession of drugs which were not his. I explained that there are no "ex-felons" if someone was convicted of theft, and/or possession of a controlled substance. An employer maybe more willing to hire a murderer who committed murder in an act of passion; but not for employee theft, or drug possession. He became more agitated, and railed on about the unfairness of it all. I realized, at that time, some people take no responsibility for their actions; but choose to blame others, or society. Programs, or not; a new jail is necessary. Mental Health services have declined due to cuts in budgets. Women are being held for crimes. The Sheriff's responsible for health, and safety along with incarceration. I see those reasons for a new jail; not some more "programs". It is unfortunate that the group calling for "programs" has such a disreputable spokesman.