Sheriff says jail crowding only intensifying

FALLS CITY – A Richardson County committee formed to explore options for a jail expansion agreed this winter  to re-evaluate the jail population numbers in two years, but Sheriff Rick Hardesty told county commissioners Tuesday that crowding issues are only intensifying.

Sheriff Hardesty says 450 people have been booked into the county jail so far this year, putting the county on pace for 800 bookings this year.

The sheriff says the county has 15 criminal jury trials scheduled in the next three to four months and he expects eight court commitments in the coming weeks.

The county opened a new, 24-bed jail in 2016 that the state has classified as full with 18 inmates. Hardesty said as many as 28 inmates were held during court dates and shifting from county to county.

Washington County, which is 129 miles from Falls City, recently accepted 15 Richardson County prisoners.

He said jails in surrounding counties are in a similar situation.

Hardesty: “Eventually, somebody is going to have to build a jail.”

He said he understands that historical data indicates that the county might get by with fewer jail beds so the Citizen’s Committee decided in February to put the 40-bed jail on hold. The sheriff told the county board Tuesday, however, that his office does not intend on slowing down on law enforcement.