County jail releases inmates due to overcrowding as officials say they lack funds

As Hillsdale County continues to release inmates due to lack of space in the county jail, District Judge Megan Stiverson said nearby counties have invested in building more jail space.

Although other rural judges are also housing more felons and fewer misdemeanor cases, most local jails are solving their overcrowding problems, Stiverson said.

“Judges from other counties are seeing the same trends in terms of there being more people who committed misdemeanors out on probation and more felons lodged locally,” Stiverson said. “Hillsdale is unique in our issue with our jail. There are other jails around that have had issues or been small, but they all have new jails now.”

The Hillsdale County Jail’s official capacity is 67 inmates, but overcrowding has forced it to hold an average of 75 inmates on any given day, according to Capt. Jason Stiverson, the jail administrator. Although the jail has added portable bunks and uses a multipurpose room to add extra space, the Sheriff’s Office still asks the district court to release inmates.

“Every week, I have to decide who poses the least threat to the public safety in Hillsdale County,” Megan Stiverson told The Collegian in September. “There is no set of rules.”

Like the Hillsdale jail, neighboring Branch County Jail used to experience overcrowding. But the county solved its problem by building a new facility that opened in 2021, according to Sheriff Fred Blankenship. The new jail can house 202 inmates. In March 2025, it averaged a population in the 70s, according to Jail Administrator Capt. Todd Riley.

Although Branch County Jail has spoken with other jails about housing inmates, Blakenship said inmate counts are generally low.

“Bail reform and sentencing reform here has actually gone the other way,” Blankenship said, referring to a state law requiring more felons to be housed in local jails and expanded probation for misdemeanor offenses. “We don’t have that many inmates in here anymore.”

Blankenship said the new jail cost $25–30 million. The county funded the project through a millage — a property tax — passed in 2018.

“Since we built the new jail, our inmate count has been down drastically,” he said.

The Branch County Jail had experienced overcrowding due to misdemeanors, but Blankenship said it also struggled to house female inmates.

“We had to make a decision to house those females out in other jails,” Blankenship said. “We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout the years to house inmates out to other counties.”

Hillsdale County has considered housing its own inmates in other counties, but the cost is prohibitive, Stiverson said.

“The jail doesn’t have that in its budget, and if I order that somebody be lodged at a different location, then it becomes my responsibility,” Stiverson said. “And I certainly don’t have that in my budget, either.”

Stiverson said the problem comes down to available resources.

“There’s some other rural judges who have the same frustrations as I do regarding the number of people that we have in jail or are allowed to put in jail,” she said. “A lot of them have more resources than we do in Hillsdale. We’re incredibly unique.”

The 2025 budget for Hillsdale County Jail is about $1.3 million but around $2.4 million for Branch County Jail. The budgets for the district courts reflected a smaller disparity, with about $600,000 for Hillsdale and around $700,000 for Branch.

The Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners knows the jail needs to be expanded, chairman Mark Wiley told The Collegian in September. But he said 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.” 

Wiley said the board is accepting bids to renovate the building currently occupied by mental health clinic LifeWays.

“As of March 18, we have two bids and are working on a third,” Wiley said.

In the meantime, Stiverson said she relies on the Community Corrections Program to provide risk assessment and supervision.

Mark Katz, community corrections manager, said he completes risk assessments on individuals prior to arraignment with the judge and makes recommendations for the bond appropriate to the situation. The assessments include a full background check and label individuals low, medium, or high risk.

“Sometimes it’s followed exactly, and sometimes it’s not followed at all,” Katz said. “That’s completely the judge’s decision at that point.”

Katz said violent criminals usually receive a tether, an electronic monitoring bracelet, if out on bond. Community corrections can help fund the tethers through a grant that took effect Oct. 1, 2024.

“We can set up exclusion zones for victims so if the defendant were to get anywhere near the zone, the tether goes off and notifies myself as well as the police,” Katz said.

Community corrections also supervises individuals out on bond, Katz said. The community corrections standard is two contacts per month for high-risk individuals, but Katz said he meets with high-risk individuals one or two times per week.

“I really work hard to keep track of where people are and what they’re doing,” he said.

Katz said his goal is to get people in better positions, including helping individuals find housing, treatment for substance abuse, or employment, depending on the issue.

“The goal is to try to work with individuals to not only provide supervision while they’re in the court process, but also to help them start doing something different in their life,” Katz said.

Since the community corrections program’s creation in January 2024, it has increased court appearance rates from 68% to 92% and decreased recidivism — the number of people committing crimes after being released — to 0.5%, according to Katz. As of March 2025, the program has completed 357 assessments and has supervised 230 individuals while in the court process.

“We’re keeping people out of jail by following these community corrections programs, but we’re still at overcapacity,” Stiverson said. “Can you imagine where we would be if I wasn’t letting people out at this point?”

Stiverson said she loves the Hillsdale community, but the increased homeless population and drug problems concern her in addition to the overcrowding issues.

“I’m not sure what to do to solve the problem,” she said. “All of my ideas involve money.”

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