STATE CAPITAL FUNDS SOUGHT FOR COUNTY JAIL CONSTRUCTION

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1 STATE CAPITAL FUNDS SOUGHT FOR COUNTY JAIL CONSTRUCTION CCAO has submitted a proposal for state capital funds for county jail construction to Budget and Management Director Tim Keen. This proposal is supported by the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association, the Ohio Judicial Conference, and the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. The proposal asks that a minimum of $75 million be recommended by Governor Taft in his request for capital appropriations which will be submitted to the 126 th General Assembly later this year. Funding in the FY07/08 capital appropriations bill will provide the first new infusion of state capital construction dollars since $22.4 million was appropriated for FY01/02. The General Assembly has appropriated $285 million since the inception of providing state support for jail construction back in Jail overcrowding brings significant consequences to every aspect of the criminal justice system. The integrity of Ohio s system of justice and the public safety are compromised and placed in jeopardy when there is no room in the inn for individuals who ought to be incarcerated. Demand for additional jail beds is being driven by five key factors. Two are obvious: overcrowding and facility age. The other three are subtle: felony populations; female prisoners; and legislating new crimes. Currently Ohio s counties need approximately 4700 beds. Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lucas Counties, alone, are in dire need of nearly 3000 beds while more that 1700 beds are needed across the rest of the state. The per bed subsidy which was at $35,000 per bed in the FY01/02 capital bill has been adjusted for construction inflation cost and increased to $42,000 per bed. The $75 million being sought would provide slightly more than new jail beds 1700 beds. We urge you to contact your legislators to let them know we have requested state capital funding for county jail construction and that you support, at a minimum, the $75 million funding level.

2 For those counties where access to state funding will make the difference in whether they are able to complete a renovation, expansion or new construction of a jail facility please let your legislators know specifically how this capital funding can benefit the county and their constituents. You might also want to include information that documents overcrowding at your jail; the current conditions in the jail that place safe and secure housing of prisoners at risk; the number of people who are waiting to serve their sentences but can t because there is no room in the jail for them; and, the number of people who are in the jail awaiting trial on a felony charge or are serving a felony sentence in your jail rather than a state prison. Discussion regarding and the rational for the proposal follows: FUNDING HISTORY: The General Assembly has appropriated $285 million since 1985 when state capital construction for local jail facilities was first established. Funding in the FY07/08 capital appropriations bill will provide the first new infusion of state capital construction dollars since $22.4 million appropriated for FY01/02. No funding provided in either the capital appropriations bills for FY03/04 or FY05/06. On average approximately $15.8 million per year was provided over the 18 year period covering the FY85/86 appropriation through the FY01/02 appropriation. Holding the county s harmless for the past 4 year void in construction funding and continuing to provide the average annual funding level of $15.8 million per year in capital construction subsidy beyond the last funded year of FY02 through FY08 would require the FY07/08 Capital bill to fund county jails construction at an appropriation level of approximately $95 million. Adjusting the last actual biennial capital appropriation of $22.4 million for FY01/02 for construction cost inflation between July 2000 and July 2006 requires an appropriation of approximately $30 million for the FY07/08 biennium to equal the value of the FY01/02 biennium appropriation. [See NOTE below] However, assuming the average annual subsidy of $15.8 million per year [or $31.6 million for a biennium] and adjusting for construction cost inflation between July 2000 and July 2006 requires an appropriation of approximately $42 million for the FY07/08 biennium to equal the value of an FY01/02 biennium appropriation level of $31.6 million. [See NOTE below] DEMAND FOR ADDITIONAL JAIL BEDS: Demand for additional jail beds is being driven by five key factors. Two are obvious: overcrowding and facility age. The other three are subtle: felony populations; female prisoners; and legislating new crimes.

3 Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Bureau of Adult Detention data clearly documents jail overcrowding. The average daily jail population increased approximately 20% from 2000 to This, in turn, has lead to daily populations exceeding the Bureau s recommended population capacities. The average daily populations have exceeded recommended capacities by 6% in 2003, 10% in 2004 and 14% in In some instances this has forced counties to transfer prisoners to facilities outside of the county, and that invokes additional costs for housing and deputy time and travel associated with prisoner transportation. Age of county jail facilities suggests that there is a crisis upon the horizon. State funding support has facilitated jail construction. Since 1985 almost half of Ohio s counties have been able to complete jail construction projects. Prior to that time improvement of jail facilities was basically nonexistent. Thirty-one Ohio counties, however, are currently operating a county jail that is at least twenty-five years old and three of those counties jails date back to the 1880s. The general life span of a jail building is recognized as being somewhere around years. These facilities are reaching the point where costly updates and repairs to their structural, mechanical and operating systems are going to become a necessity. Today a majority of the county jail population is being held incarcerated for felony related matters. With criminal offenders tending to become more violent a higher percent of cases are being processed through the common pleas courts as felonies. The general rule for the more violent individuals is to keep them confined until trial. This produces three consequences: less serious offenders are released from jail to make room; there is a greater demand for cells rather than dormitory beds; and greater attention and prisoner management skills are required from the corrections staff in order to successfully supervise these individuals. An alarming 45% of the county jail population is unsentenced awaiting trial on a felony. 12% of the county jail population is serving a felony sentence for which the county rather that the state and its prison system is bearing the cost. The spiraling increase in female offender population is putting significant pressure on facility reconfiguration since separation of male and female prisoners is required. The Bureau of Adult Detention notes that in 2004, 14.7% of the population was female. This was a 12.7% increase over the 2003 percentage. And, finally, every time the state creates a new criminal offense, prosecutions under that offense increase the unsentenced and sentenced populations of the county jails. DEMONSTRATED NEED FOR ADDITIONAL JAIL BEDS: The Bureau of Adult Detention last surveyed the counties in 2002 to inquire about bed needs from 2003 to At that point in time 23 counties indicated they anticipated the need to seek state capital assistance to increase their jail capacities during this period. The number of beds identified at that time exceeded 2600.

4 Currently Ohio s sheriffs have reported to the Buckeye State Sheriffs Association the need for approximately 4700 beds. Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Lucas Counties, alone, are in dire need of nearly 3000 beds while more that 1700 beds are needed across the rest of the state. According to the Hamilton County sheriff s office during 2005, the county had 4,200 people who either weren t admitted to or were released early from the Hamilton County jails. RATIONAL ESTABLISHING THE PER BED SUBSIDY AT $42,000 PER BED: Adjusting the $35,000 per bed subsidy authorized by the last biennial capital appropriation for FY01/02 for construction cost inflation between July 2000 and July 2006 yields a per bed subsidy of approximately $46,300 required for the FY07/08 biennium to equal the value of the FY01/02 subsidy amount. Similarly, adjusting the $42,000 per bed subsidy available for mulitcounty facilities in the FY01/02 capital appropriation bill for inflation leads to a current equivalent value of $54,400. [See NOTE below] However, the architect firm of Wachtel & McAnally, which specializes in incarceration facility construction and is also the firm that developed the State of Ohio s Prototype Jail designs, estimates, based upon their three most recently completed jail construction projects that the average per bed cost for jail construction currently is approximately $63,000. [See Exhibit C attached] $42,000 per bed has been selected as the subsidy amount since it seemed reasonable, based upon past practice and discussions with the DRC s Bureau of Adult Detention, to peg the subsidy rate at 2/3rds [66%] of the current per bed construction cost. For multicounty facilities DRC is authorized to approve per bed funding beyond the $42,000 per bed to provide up to $50,000 per bed for new construction of a correctional center that is formed by at least 3 counties based upon the impact of that project and the project s incorporation of technological efficiencies. The subsidy for renovation is increased from 30% to 50%; however, the maximum amount of subsidy is limited to not more than an average of $42,000 per bed of the total allowable cost of the project. ANALYSIS OF NUMBER OF BEDS SUBSIDIZED: Based upon the funding level and per bed allocations, the $46 million appropriated for the fiscal years 1999 through 2001 provided a state construction subsidy for approximately 1600 beds over that 4 year period. Assuming the policy of holding the counties harmless since FY 2001, the FY07/08 capital bill ought to provide a subsidy for at least 2400 beds. Calculating the number of beds based upon applying the

5 construction cost index to the FY01/02 capital appropriation would yield approximately 1000 beds for the FY07/08 capital bill. APPROPRIATION LEVEL OPTIONS: Accepting the $42,000 as the level of per bed subsidy the following level of appropriations would approximately yield the corresponding number of beds to be subsidized: 108 Million 2400 Beds 95 Million 2260 Beds 84 Million 2000 Beds 76 Million 1800 Beds 75 Million 1785 Beds 67 Million 1600 Beds 63 Million 1500 Beds 55 Million 1300 Beds 42 Million 1000 Beds 30 Million 715 Beds NOTE: Inflationary adjustments to reflect price increases in construction costs are calculated from the 2006 RS Means Building Construction Cost Data which reflects the historical cost indexes for July 2000 at and July 2006 extrapolated to be estimated at 160.2