Average daily jail population in Johnson County continues to decrease

IOWA CITY - For the fifth straight year, the Johnson County Jail's average daily jail population has decreased.

According to the Johnson County Sheriff's Office annual report, in 2015, the average daily population of the jail was 109.6. The year before, the average daily population was 123.4. In 2010, the average daily population of the jail was 167.7 inmates.

Those figures include inmates who are housed out of the county due to overcrowding at the Johnson County Jail, which has a capacity of 92 inmates, but keeps space open for inflow and outflow, said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.

Pulkrabek credits the steady decrease in inmates to the county's jail alternatives program, but admits he never saw the initiative being this successful.

'I didn't think that trend would be able to continue for an extended period of time,” he said. 'We've got a good-sized population.”

Pulkrabek said the jail alternatives program - headed by Jessica Peckover - had made a 'huge impact” on the jail population. Peckover regularly meets with a district judge, the county attorney's office, defense attorneys and jail staff to discuss which inmates can be released or better served outside of the jail.

In the coming years, even more potential inmates could be diverted from the jail as Johnson County officials attempt to recreate a San Antonio-based approach to mental health and homelessness issues locally. Those efforts will include training every law enforcement officer in the county - including municipal officers - in crisis intervention training to help them identify people who may be suffering from mental health issues. Officials are also exploring the creation of a low-barrier homeless shelter, a sobering center and a mental health crisis center, all modeled off facilities in San Antonio.

With those goals in mind, Johnson County has agreed to hire one more employee for the jail alternatives program, which also contracts with Iowa County to provide services there.

While the average daily population was down, the county spent $1,051,781.18 in housing and transporting inmates out of the county, after only spending $928,163 the year before. That can be attributed to renovations at the jail that took place from May though mid-August that required a majority of the inmates to be housed elsewhere.

Despite the renovations, Pulkrabek said the jail, more than 30 years old, is still inadequate for the county's needs.

'You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig,” he said.