By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
The number of individuals being held in jails across Kansas has been on a downward trend recently, but Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun said it could just “be the calm before the storm.”
Braun spoke with the Ellis County Commission on Tuesday and gave a brief preview of a jail assessment from Justice Planners. The commission approved the contract for the assessment last year.
Representatives from Justice Planners were unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting because of travel difficulties caused by Hurricane Beryl. They now plan to present their more than 30-page assessment on Aug. 13.
According to the assessment, the Ellis County Jail has a capacity of 72 and has had a daily average population in the upper 60s for the last two and a half years.
Ellis County Administrator Darin Myers told the commission that Justice Planners recommends a new facility for the county, which needs 95 beds by next year.
"The amount of space that's available, compared to the amount of money that would be needed to add bed space, would not even get us to the minimum bed space required," Myers said. "So, their recommendation is not to invest any money into the current facility because it will not pay itself off."
Justice Planners recommended housing inmates out-of-county and setting money aside to build a new facility, Braun said.
He also cautioned the commissioners not to get used to seeing the jail population remain at the current level in the mid-50s.
The current numbers are "unheard of, I don't know what's going on," Braun said.
"There must be a trend across the state because Sedgwick County also is seeing low numbers. Ford County is seeing low numbers," Braun said. "But I think this is the calm before the storm, and we're going to see our numbers jump again."
As a result of the fall elections, Ellis County will have a new county attorney as current attorney Robert Anderson has decided not to seek reelection. There will also be a new judge on the bench in the 23rd Judicial District. Chief Judge Glenn Braun is also not seeking reelection.
Sheriff Braun said with two new people in those roles there’s also no way to tell how that will affect the jail population.
"I've spoken with one of the judges, and he has stated he's going to try to do what he can to keep people out of jail or to find a way to do so, but that's a tough, tough thing to do," Braun said. He said he did not talk to the incoming judge.
But Braun has talked with Assistant County Attorney Aaron Cunningham, the only candidate who has filed for county attorney. Barring a successful write-in campaign against him, he will take over as the county’s top prosecutor in January.
"I think he's going to; how shall I say it? He's going to be a little bit harder," Braun said. "So, we may have increased numbers, where he feels that they need to stay in jail, not right or wrong. It's just his opinion."
Braun said the previous study, done in 2013, recommended a 97-bed facility at a minimum, and a facility nearing 125 beds was recommended.
"I think commissioners know what we need to do, and we just have to figure out how we can do it, how we can get by in the meantime, and how we're going to work that strategically," Braun said. "It's probably not going to be done in my time. Maybe it will, I don't know. At some given point in time, it will have to be addressed."
Braun said there is no “quick fix” for the situation, and he anticipates developing a plan will take several meetings.
How to address inmate mental health issues will need to be part of the discussion, he said.
Braun estimated about 15% of the jail population suffers from serious mental health issues, and more than half deal with some mental health issues, but they can control them.
“We have some really sick individuals up there, and unfortunately, there's not a place to send them,” Braun said. “We can send them to Larned for X amount of days, but they ended up back within our facility.”
He suggested the county have a conversation with High Plains Mental Health about how to address those issues, including the possibility of connecting a mental health facility to the jail that can house the inmates and still provide them the treatment they need.
The jail assessment from Justice Planners projected 25 years into the future.
Braun said there is a lot of uncertainty and things that can change.
Among those is the potential growth of the city of Hays due to the expanded access to water due to the R-9 Ranch project.
"I'm talking millions of dollars. I know the public, if they're listening right now, they're probably saying the sheriff wants a new jail, but that is not true. We need a jail. I don't want it. We need it, and it's not going to be for me. It's for the public, so we can keep them safe," Braun said.