Leon County jail 'grossly overcrowded' amid COVID Inmates transferred as local detention facility nears max capacity Christopher Cann, Tallahassee Democrat USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA 1/29/2022 The number of people detained inside the Leon County Detention Facility (LCDF) is so high, some have been transferred to neighboring jails in recent months to alleviate congestion, especially amid a surge of COVID-19 cases that's caused a lockdown. As of late last week, there were 1,173 people in custody inside the detention facility — not counting those in other facilities who were already moved. Jefferson County has five juveniles and Wakulla County is holding 25 inmates for Leon County in their respective detention centers, as the Leon jail nears its maximum capacity of 1,200. "Once we are at 1,200, we'll be too full," said Assistant Sheriff Steve Harrelson at a mid-January public safety council meeting. If this happens, between 80 to 100 people will likely be transferred to Walton County — an arrangement that is in discussion and that will come with a hefty price tag, Harrelson said. Wakulla and Jefferson counties are holding detainees for free, but when the Sheriff's Office moves them to Walton County a fee of $4 a day per inmate will be charged. "That's about $162,000 a month," Harrelson said in the meeting. Officials: COVID caused a case backlog The jail typically holds anywhere between 1,000 and 1,050 people at a time, Harrelson said, marking a more than 17% increase in recent months. The uptick in incarcerated people is "primarily due to the courts' previous closures," Harrelson later told the Democrat in a written statement, adding: "We have a backlog of cases based on COVID-19, and the criminal justice system is working as hard as they can to get those persons cleared through the process." State Attorney Jack Campbell substantiated Harrelson's statement and said while COVID has derailed court schedules since the spring of 2020, he and his office are now "resolving cases as quickly as possible." "Most of the people in jail are waiting to have their day in court," he said. "And they will get that day soon." LCDF remains under 'COVID lockdown mode' On Thursday, Jan. 13, the Leon County Detention Facility entered into what spokeswoman Angela Green called a "COVID lockdown mode" after 156 detainees and 38 detention staff tested positive for the virus. Over a week later, the jail remains under lockdown as 169, or 14%, of the incarcerated population were infected Monday. Twenty-six detention employees were positive as well. These infections are spread throughout the facility's eight pods, which are areas of the jail holding between 30 to 90 inmates, Green said. The lockdown restricts detainees to their cell except for routine activities like showers, exercise and doctor's appointments, Green added. There have been no hospitalizations and every person has mild to no symptoms. Harrelson said the fact that the jail moved over 30 inmates to neighboring jails "allows (the LCDF) more room to isolate impacted inmates." "The inmates are well taken care of despite the challenges with COVID-19, and the sheriffs in this region are assisting us," Harrelson said. "We will get through this crisis with the assistance of our law enforcement partners." 89% of detainees awaiting sentencing, trial Of the total number of incarcerated people, 1,044 are being detained and waiting for trial and sentencing — that's 89%. Campbell said this number is not out of the ordinary because, in his estimation, there are essentially only two groups in the jail at most times: Those awaiting trial and those serving a lessthan- one-year sentence. (If a sentence is more than a year, that person generally is sent to a state prison.) According to a monthly report by the Sheriff's Office obtained by the Democrat, 86 of the 1,173 people being held in the LCDF are being charged for misdemeanors as of mid-January. Most of those people, Campbell said, were released and re-offended. Felonies, which are punishable by more than a year in prison, made up the wide majority of cases in mid-January, at 1,084. Of the 1,084 people in-custody on felony charges, 135 were detained in murder cases, 50 were sex offenses, 77 were robbery, 157 were drug-related, 224 were other violent offences, 84 were burglary, 101 were felony-theft and fraud, 11 were other property crimes and 245 were other felony offenders, according to LCSO's Steve Harrelson. The average stay of those in the LCDF, as of mid-January, was 262 days, Harrelson added. Additionally, 482 people have been in jail for over six months; 272, over a year; 117, over two years; 42, over three years and 14 people have been in the Leon County jail for over four years. The longest pre-sentenced stay at LCDF, as of early December, is seven years, according to documents obtained by the Florida Center for Government Accountability. 'Breaking up families' Concerning the number of those in custody, Public Defender Jessica Yeary said much can and should be done, especially to prevent low-level offenders from being caught in a bureaucratic backlog and "punished for not having their trials yet." "At a time when our community demands a criminal justice system focused on restorative justice, decriminalization, and meaningful alternatives to incarceration, our local prosecutor's actions fail to align with the will of those voices," she wrote in a statement to the Democrat. "These actions result in significant delays, an insurmountable backlog, and a grossly overpopulated Leon County Jail." In the mid-January meeting, she said the public safety coordinating council needs to concentrate on two goals in its mission to reduce the jail population by 30%: Helping inmates who are in jail because they cannot afford bail, and providing alternatives to those with drug abuse problems and mental illnesses. "There has to be alternatives to continuing to lock people up in a pandemic," she said during the meeting. "We know that it does not increase public safety, we know that it does not help. It's breaking up families." 'Low hanging fruit' The group who are considered "low hanging fruit" are those with a standalone violation of probation (VOP) charge, according to Kendra Brown, a criminal court manager for LCSO. If their violations were not a new charge or non-violent, the Sheriff's Office will ask the state to offer reasonable bonds or release them into the community, pending their hearings, Brown said at the public safety council meeting. There were 114 people who fit this criteria in mid-January whom the Sheriff's Office seek to get in front of their respective felony division judges and attorneys to be considered for release. "We seem poised to be able to support people in this VOP group to be released back home," Brown said, adding that the Florida Department of Corrections is "fine with continuing supervision" of released inmates, as long as it's under probationary status. The other "low hanging fruit" are lower level charges and misdemeanor cases in which the state would offer a release or bond to individuals. Yeary, however, pointed out what she called a catch-22, where the state will offer a plea for time served instead of a pre-trial release. In these cases, the defendant is left with a choice: Sign the plea and get released by essentially admitting guilt or remain in jail until their day in court — which can take months or years. "I can understand why someone would sit in jail and wait to go to trial on the chance they'll get a not guilty verdict, rather than sign a piece of paper that says 'time served you can go home now as a convicted felon,' " said Rebecca Kelly-Mander, the founder of the REfire culinary program that trains felons, during the meeting. She continued: "They'll have a hard time doing so much from getting a job (to) establishing credit because they're considered a convicted felon." - - - Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.