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Female inmates crowding jail dorms |
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Female inmates crowding jail dorms By Anne Thrower athrower@paducahsun.com--270.575.8653 Thursday, October 21, 2004
For example, one female dorm that usually holds 15 inmates had 30 Wednesday. Two dorms that were meant to house eight were holding 16. Jailer Cliff Gill says the numbers are increasing, in part, because of the number of women arrested for methamphetamine and other drug charges is increasing. But another reason is the amount of time it takes to transfer a convicted woman inmate to the only women's prison in the state - Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women at Pewee Valley. Gill said no women have been transported by the sheriff's department since three were sent to Pewee Valley in December. According to the state Department of Corrections, the women's prison had 731 inmates Wednesday, seven above capacity. After Jefferson and Fayette counties, McCracken County has the most female inmates at Pewee Valley, Gill said. Of the 434 inmates at the McCracken jail Wednesday, 100 were women. Seventeen women were convicted felons or parole violators waiting to be transferred to Pewee Valley. McCracken County receives $26.51 per day for each inmate waiting to go to a state facility, but Gill said the daily cost to house each inmate is $24.55. Gill said he sees the number of women inmates increasing. In August and September, the average was 81. "Anytime there are over 60 inmates, it's a problem because there is no room for them," Gill said. "But we've been able to handle it." Gill said the women inmates complain more about the overcrowding. "It's a justified complaint because the women are more overcrowded than the men," he said. Women also create more problems for the jail than men, Gill said. "They often don't get along," he said. "They have to be divided more often than men." But the jail has not had a problem with women physically hurting other women, he said. And if the woman is pregnant, she requires more medical attention. In the past 12 years, nine women have given birth while in custody. After delivering at Western Baptist Hospital, the women return to jail without the babies. No women currently in jail are pregnant, but the jail has had to deal with as many as eight pregnant women at once, Gill said. At Monday's fiscal court meeting, county commissioners will consider hiring a physician's assistant, County Administrator Steve Doolittle said. The person recommended for the job is a woman, which he said will work out well. |
So far this month, the number of
female inmates at the McCracken County Regional Jail has reached
100 or more on all but three days, leaving jail officials no
choice but to cram them into living quarters designed for 30
to 35 inmates.