Page 18
The INDEPENDENT, September 21, 2011
From the Sheriff’s Desk…
by Jeff Dickerson,
Columbia County Sheriff
Jail Capacity
Management
When Columbia County
voters passed the construc-
tion bond levy to build the jail
in 1998, no moneys were au-
thorized for the operation of
the facility. It was only to build
it. And build it we did.
The facility is a 195-bed
capacity jail that replaced the old, dilapidated facility in
the basement of the county courthouse, and in-
creased the bed-space by more than five-fold. It re-
mains a state-of-the-art detention center capable of
housing the most serious of criminals safely and se-
curely. In the 11 years since the new jail was built,
there has been but one escape from this jail (years
ago when an inmate was allowed outside to empty the
trash from the kitchen).
Since the jail was constructed, we have used out-
side funding to construct a security fence around the
facility that both protects our staff and adds an addi-
tional layer of security for the jail. We are committed to
providing the best, most effective and humane incar-
ceration services for the citizens in our county.
Because, however, we have not been able to raise
enough revenue to fully operate the jail, efforts are
now being made to make sure the resources we do
have to run the facility are used to keep the most se-
rious offenders in jail. This will mean reduction of the
number of beds available over time, and a larger num-
ber of inmates and arrestees who will be given sanc-
tions that are alternatives to jail time.
This topic garnered the majority of the time during
the Sheriff’s Services Reduction Summit held Friday,
September 9, in St. Helens. Your interim police chief,
Michael Conner, was in attendance along with atten-
dees representing the courts, all police agencies
and/or cities with police departments in our county, the
district attorney, community corrections, Columbia
Please see page 19
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