The Hillsdale County District Court has been releasing about five to 10 inmates per month from the county jail for the past two years, and officials say it could take years to expand the overcrowded facility.

Although the jail’s official capacity is 67 inmates, overcrowding has forced it to hold an average 75 inmates on any given day, according to Capt. Jason Stiverson, the jail administrator. On Sept. 5, the jail housed 85 inmates. The county adds portable bunks and uses a multipurpose room for extra space.

But the Sheriff’s Office, which manages the jail, still repeatedly asks the district court to release inmates, said District Judge Megan Stiverson.

“Every week, I have to decide who poses the least threat to the public safety in Hillsdale County,” she said. “There is no set of rules.”

Stiverson said in an email that the court and the jail have not tracked the number of inmates it releases early, but estimated that she has released about five to 10 inmates early per month for the past two years. The sentenced are put on probation, and the unsentenced are released on bond.

She said both the court and the jail will start tracking early releases moving forward.

Mark Wiley, chairman of the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners, said although the commissioners know the jail needs to be expanded, relocating the Hillsdale County District Court is their first priority.

“We have more needs than we have money right now, and the jail is definitely on our radar,” Wiley said. “I would like to think that within the next three years we can start addressing the need at the jail.”

Releasing inmates early

When the jail reaches overcapacity, the Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office asks the district court to release inmates, Jason Stiverson said. Megan Stiverson said she is usually able to return the jail’s population to the 70s.

Megan Stiverson said when deciding who to release she considers factors such as past criminal history, likelihood of appearing in court, history of drug use, and history of violent crime. She releases financial and property criminals first but said the kind of inmates she releases varies depending on who the jail is lodging.

“I think most of the individuals I’m releasing are probably serving sentences because they violated their probation,” she said.

She said she most often sentences people for use of narcotics, domestic violence and domestic violence second offense, stalking, or attempted resisting or obstructing law enforcement officers.

“If I have to decide between the person who stole somebody’s golf clubs from their front yard, or somebody who committed a really serious act of domestic violence, the person who committed the property crime is going to be the person who I release first,” she said. “The order for restitution remains, there’s some civil liability if they don’t pay it — there’s different remedies and recourse for property crimes. Crimes against a person, it’s harder to legitimize.”

Megan Stiverson said during the interview she had one case where she might have to release a domestic violence offender. Her grant-funded victim services coordinator is investigating to see if the victim has an opinion on a potential early release.

“I don’t want to release him early, but if it’s coming to that, I at least want the victim to be informed so that they have some say in it and so that they’re put on notice and I can make sure that they’re safe,” she said.

If inmates have not been sentenced, Megan Stiverson said they would be released on bond. Bond could be a set money amount but could also involve drug screening, electronic monitoring, or portable breathalyzers.

If inmates have been sentenced, they are released on probation, Megan Stiverson said. As of Sept. 11, there are 325 probationers and four probation officers, including two full-time officers paid for by Hillsdale County, a full-time, grant-funded domestic violence court probation officer, and a part-time, grant-funded veterans court probation officer. The full-time officers monitor approximately 100 probationers each.

Diagnosing the problem

Although the sheriff’s office has dealt with occasional overcrowding, it has become a consistent problem for the past two years, Jason Stiverson said. The office has seen an increase in felony and drug crimes, which are lodged in the jail longer than misdemeanors.

He said the sheriff’s office could not name a specific reason for the increase in more serious crimes.

“I think drugs in general are more prevalent in any community than they were four or five years ago,” he said.

Most of the drug cases involve alcohol or methamphetamines, although cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl also make up a portion of cases, according to Megan Stiverson. Methamphetamines make up 80% of drug cases.

Megan Stiverson said some of the overcrowding problems were caused by House Bill 5396 of 2020, which took effect in 2021. The bill increased the number of crimes that went straight to probation with the intent to decrease the number of inmates in jail. But the bill also housed more felony offenders in local jails instead of state correctional facilities.

“Our jail is now full of individuals who are serving a felony sentence,” she said. “They didn’t take into account really small counties like Hillsdale, with a 67-man jail that’s now full all the time. We’re more full post-bail reform legislation than we were before.”

Finding a solution

Jason Stiverson said he hopes to establish a jail inmate population management plan that would allow the sheriff’s office to release certain inmates without contacting the courts first. The sheriff’s office, prosecutor’s office, and all three court levels would meet to decide on a plan, but did not have an exact  date.

Neighboring counties have plans that allow the jail to release inmates held on child support charges or anyone scheduled for release within 30 days, according to Jason Stiverson.

“The point of having the group get together is to figure out what will work for our specific county and our jail,” he said.

Wiley said the jail was built in the 1970s and needs major updates.

“I think our first step would be assessing our needs,” Wiley said. “Much like we did with the courthouse, we would have an expert in the field of jails come and do an assessment for us, and we would go from there.”

Meanwhile, the commissioners are focusing on moving the district court. Hillsdale County sold the courthouse annex building to Hillsdale Renaissance LLC in April 2023, the Hillsdale Daily News reported. Wiley said the purchaser gave the county five years to move the district court to a new location, and the county has approximately three years left.

“We basically have to construct a new district court, and that’s kind of in conjunction with finishing the historic courthouse,” Wiley said.

The current plan approved by the commissioners is to move the district court to 25 Care Drive and renovate the building currently occupied by the mental health clinic LifeWays, according to Wiley.

“LifeWays is looking to build a new location,” Wiley said. “They will be vacating within the next two years, which allows us time to renovate and create the new court.”

Wiley said the commissioners will meet soon to discuss specific plans for the new building but did not have an exact date. After finalizing the drawing with an architect, they will begin sending it to contractors for bids. Wiley said he hopes the board will have an estimated cost by late 2024 or early 2025.

“Every year I go and ask for more probation officers and more clerks to handle our caseload, and the commissioners have to make a decision,” Megan Stiverson said. “And every year I think the jail goes and says, ‘Hey, we need a new jail.’ It just comes down to funding.”