Commissioner Lumon May, Circuit Judge Tom Dannheisser and the Public Safety Coordinating Council have ramped up their efforts to reduce crowding in the Escambia County Jail and its other incarceration sites.
The Council held its quarterly meeting yesterday in the M.C. Blanchard Judicial Center. The group includes Commissioner May, Judge Dannheisser, Escambia County Judge Amy Broderson and representatives from the Clerk of Court, State Attorney, Public Defender, Escambia County Corrections, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Corrections, Court Administration, Florida Department of Children and Families, and Escambia County administration.
The jail population is up since June – increasing from 1,519 prisoners to 1,552. Assistant County Administrator Amy Lovoy told the council that projected completion of the new jail is late 2019.
“It’s time we move beyond finger-pointing,” said Commissioner May, who chaired the meeting. “We need to work together to figure out how we really attack this systematic problem that is costing the taxpayers.”
Judge Dannheisser agreed to chair a subcommittee that will meet to review possible solutions to reducing the jail population without hurting public safety. Commissioner May, who chaired the meeting, instructed County Corrections Tammy Jarvis to put together a white paper on several possible solutions she mentioned at the meeting.
The Council agreed to meet more often to review the white paper and any recommendations from Judge Dannheisser’s subcommittee.