RICHMOND —
Although the county’s relatively new home-incarceration monitoring program is keeping some out of the jail’s population, it’s simply not enough, according to Madison County Jailer Doug Thomas.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 290 inmates in the jail, which is built to house 195 inmates.
“If it wasn’t for home incarceration, we’d have 320,” he said.
Overcrowding causes a number of additional stresses, but mostly financial and behavior problems, Thomas told the fiscal court Tuesday morning.
“When you have overcrowding, there’s more cost in food, clothing, everything,” he said. “When it gets overcrowded, tempers flare up. No one says ‘I’m sorry’ when they step over someone. You have people in there who know each other and don’t like each other.”
When the Kentucky Department of Corrections sees the population numbers for the jail and finds it overcrowded, “They come in and get the state prisoners, and they’re the ones you want to keep,” Thomas said.
The county has netted about $80,000 a month for housing state inmates, but as the jail’s population rises, that amount decreases.
“For July, it was $59,000 (given back to the county),” Thomas said.
The county’s in-house monitoring system began June 13, and 42 people now wear monitors instead of residing in jail.
“Approximately 28 (of the 36) have been indicted, so they’re going to be on our system for quite a while,” said Deputy Michelle Albertson, who oversees the county’s home incarceration monitoring program.
Because of the increased number of inmates in the program, more assistance is now needed, Albertson said.
“We have one (inmate) in London, two in Irvine and one in Mount Sterling,” she said. “This makes it hard to do home checks. It takes time out of our day, and I’m not sure if people were expecting that. There are many times when I need to be in two places at once.”
These are inmates who do not live in Madison County but have been arrested for a crime in Madison County, she said.
Clark said the county has plans to hire more part-time help for Albertson, who said she expects to have about 70 inmates in the program by December.
Other business:
• The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Richmond will be commemorated with its annual re-enactment Aug. 25-26 at Battlefield Park on US 421.
Paula White, president of the Battle of Richmond Association, was accompanied by association members Greg and Charlena White as she told the court and audience about upcoming events.
The Preservation Shoot-Out Classic Celebrity Golf Tournament will be Aug. 17, and more details can be obtained by calling the Battle of Richmond Visitor’s Center at 624-0013.
On Aug. 26, there will be a re-enactment at 9:30 a.m. at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
“We are so thrilled,” White said. “This has never been done on an active military installation.”
On Aug. 30, there will be a soldier memorial service at 7 p.m. at Mount Zion Church on US 421.
• Clay Hamrick, golf pro at Battlefield Golf Course, gave an annual update about the course’s revenue and play.
In 2011, there were 19,751 rounds of golf played compared to 16,923 in 2010.
“We’ve increased play every single year against the odds of the economy and against very strange weather patterns,” Hamrick said. “We set a revenue target last year of $474,000. The actual revenue for the 2011-2012 fiscal year was $509,199.”
However, the golf course’s expenses increased by $9,000.
“When you have extra revenue, you’re always going to have extra expense,” he said. “Most of our expense has been related to gas prices.”
Hamrick also reported that since 2007, golf course membership has grown from 93 to 220.
• Mike Coyle was re-appointed to the Madison County Water Board, and Paul Melius was re-appointed to the Madison County Board of Adjustments.
• Mike Powell was hired to serve as a truck driver for the Madison County Road Department
The next meeting of the Madison Fiscal Court is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Aug. 28 at the courthouse, 101 W. Main St., in Richmond.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.
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Home incarceration helps overcrowding
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