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Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Ind. Gov't. - GPS tracking could cut Delaware County jail population
Seth Slabaugh of the Muncie Star-Press reports today:
Delaware County hopes to reduce jail overcrowding by using GPS satellite technology to track the movement of offenders instead of keeping them behind bars.County taxpayers spent more than $500,000 last year to house inmates in out-of-county jails because the Delaware County Justice Center was full, according to the county auditor's office.
Counties that held Delaware County inmates last year included Blackford, Benton, Howard, Kosciusko, Randolph, Wayne and Wells.
Delaware County commissioners on Monday signed a contract to lease "ExacuTrack" global positioning system tracking units at a cost of $5.25 a day for each unit. It costs Delaware County about $35 a day for each inmate housed in another county jail, meaning the GPS system could save the county about $30 a day for each inmate. * * *
"I'm for anything that will help our overcrowding situation without bankrupting the county," Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Wayne Lennington said in an interview.
Even with 55 inmates being housed outside the county, "the jail's still over the limit," said Lennington, the presiding judge of the Delaware County court system. "I don't know what to do. I turned a guy loose on Friday, and he is back in jail today."
The judge added: "That half a million dollars we spend each year doesn't include the cost of that big van on the road. And we have one or two deputies, that's all they do."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 7, 2006 07:51 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government