The Saline County Citizens Group for Jail Reform has been closely following Saline County’s search for a a solution to the problems surrounding our county jail. We have toured the jail and encouraged others to do the same, attended County Commission meetings, met with Sheriff’s office staff, visited with architect TreanorHL, and discussed among ourselves the differences we have about a new jail and the inclusion of important programming needs we consider to be important end products of this lengthy process.
At this point, our biggest concern is making sure that the voters in Saline County come to the polls prepared to make an educated and informed decision for our community’s future. We emphasize this because we count ourselves among those who are going through that learning process ourselves. Few of us have closely followed our tax dollars into the jail problems and looked at the larger cost/benefit problems in our criminal justice system. Victims and offenders alike have been compartmentalized and separated off from our community sensibility in many ways. This can leave us with the illusion that if broken parts of the community are ‘out of sight’ then they can be kept ‘out of mind,’ and even forgotten.
This attitude makes no sense when we know that 98% of offenders in our jails and prisons will be returning to our communities at some point. Unaddressed family and social problems of the community—contributing causes of criminal behavior in the first place—can eventually ‘come home to roost’ in even more problematic ways if the expensive offender time behind bars is without sufficient quality rehabilitation programming.
As communities go, Salina is fortunate to have a remarkable range of programs and resources to help address pre-crime problems. These have undoubtedly helped steer an unknown number of life paths away from the criminal justice route. Once in the system, however, offenders find it difficult to get out of its grasp and to successfully move on with their life.
Community Corrections, among other agencies, is helping with that. It provides supervision programs for high risk/high need adults and juveniles trying to avoid getting ‘lost and forgotten’ in the jail and prison environments. Especially notable is the Adult Drug Court with its 89% success rate and the relatively recent adult Pre-Trial program that, thus far, has shown an 88% success rate.
These Programs help reduce the incarceration rates and significantly reduce the costs we pay for extended jail time.
Related programs, however, need expanding inside the jail, and with extended offender contact and meaningful program enhancement. Longer-term effectiveness requires these to include mental health, addiction-related, spiritual, educational, and social programs.
Addressing the need for extended rehabilitation programming before and during incarceration is at the heart of the concern for those of us involved with the Saline County Citizens for Jail Reform group. When the vote on this arrives, voters need to show up with hearts and minds engaged and informed. Until then, we all need to learn more. Begin by showing up at the Jan 30th Town Hall at St. John’s/St. Francis Stevens Center at 7 p.m. Save Feb. 27th and March 19th on your calendars for future jail Town Halls.
Gerald Gillespie,
Member, Saline County Citizens Group for Jail Reform