Carroll County residents could save money now on a separate work-release facility for inmates but, in the end, pay millions more when a new, larger detention center is built, officials said Monday.
“A separate building for work-release would not only help me out with security by loosening up a lot of beds but could also save taxpayers? money,” said Maj. Dennis Strine, the Westminster jail?s security supervisor.
The work-release facility could cost $5 million, compared with an estimated $70 million needed for a new detention center, said Ted Zaleski, the county?s management and budget director.
But building a work-release center only delays the construction of a much-needed larger jail, a demand that isn?t going away in a county where some inmates must bunk in day rooms, Warden George Hardinger said.
“It?s clear that we are approaching a crisis point, so you alleviate the crisis by moving 100 beds off-site … but that [shouldn?t] allow us to delay construction of a new center,” Hardinger said. “If something isn?t done, it?s truly going to be a crisis situation.”
The 100-bed, minimum-security facility would house work-release inmates who hold jobs but still sleep at the jail, trustees tasked with volunteering throughout the county, DUI offenders and other low-risk convicts, he said. Hardinger and Zaleski visited Frederick County?s new work-release facility earlier this month to explore whether Carroll could construct a similar building.
The $4 million Frederick structure has been “very successful” in easing crowding at the jail, said Capt. William Delauter, the Frederick jail?s security director.
Officials said a minimum-security building in Carroll wouldn?t necessarily scream “corrections!”
“If there were a sign saying ?public library? outside the Frederick building, you wouldn?t be surprised,” Zaleski said.
Zaleski said he hopes to include a recommendation on how to ease the cramped jail when he makes capital budget suggestions to the county commissioners in March.
Carroll County Detention Center
» Intended capacity: 265
» Maximum capacity (with bunks in day rooms): 287
» Monday?s count: 250
» Two weeks ago: 273
Source: Warden George Hardinger
