A grand jury convened to assess Platte County’s facilities needs has found the Platte County Detention Center to be overcrowded, outdated and understaffed.
The grand jury’s report was issued last week with presiding commissioner Scott Fricker issuing comments on it at the Monday, April 3 meeting of the county commission.
“Platte County’s jail is outdated, undersized and generally inadequate to serve the law enforcement and public safety needs of this county,” Fricker said. “And it has been for some time now.”
Fricker said the county jail was built in the late 1990s with 154 beds, with an expected lifespan of about 25 years. It has exceeded that.
Outlining the process the county has undergone over the past decade to address the growing problem of overcrowding at the jail, Fricker noted the 2014 jail study, and the engagement of consultant Bill Garnos in 2018. Garnos, who was recently engaged to update his study, reported in 2019 that the county would need 236 beds by 2023.
Based on Garnos’ recommendation, county commissioners sought to put a half-cent sales tax on the ballot, with proceeds used to expand the jail. That measure failed.
The current bed count at the jail is 180 beds and the county has reached a high jail population count of 240 inmates for a short period last year. The COVID pandemic providing a brief respite, but that lull in jail population has ended, forcing the sheriff’s office to farm out inmates to other facilities.
“Platte County is the fastest growing county in the state, so this situation will only get worse,” Fricker said. “This is not safe, and it’s not sustainable.”
Garnos’ updated study findings are expected to be reported soon, Fricker said.
The grand jury’s findings were in line with Fricker’s comments. Members of the 12-member jury toured the jail in February, led by sheriff’s office officials.
In short, the grand jury found the facility to be well maintained, but aging, with outdated technology. They applauded staff for their efforts, but found the jail to be understaffed. Medical care at the jail was seemed insufficient with needs for more nursing and mental health services.
The grand jury supports the county’s efforts to expand video court stations and and also recommends a pay increase for staff and more recruiting events to bring in quality staff.
“It is the opinion of this grand jury that the jail is over capacity, needs more space and services and is understaffed,” the report states. “Furthermore the grand jury is concerned that these capacity issues do not allow individuals to be incarcerated that need to be incarcerated.”
Fricker also spoke to the grand jury’s final point. Prior to the COVID pandemic Platte County had about 3,800 outstanding warrants. Now, there are more than 9,000 outstanding warrants.
“Many of these people likely deserve some jail time, but we have no place to put them, so these warrants go unprosecuted,” Fricker said.
In reading the report, Fricker said he wanted to thank sheriff Mark Owen for his and his staff’s efforts to keep the jail functional under difficult circumstances.
“But the second thing that is clear to me, is that we can’t continue to kick this can down this road any longer,” Fricker said. “Our jail is not safe. It’s not safe for our inmates, it’s not safe for our detention staff, and the public is not safe when a lack of jail space prevents us from pursuing outstanding warrants and incarcerating those that should be incarcerated. We need a plan to improve and expand our existing jail, and we need it as soon as possible.”