NWA Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK One of four blocks is visible Sept. 5, 2019, inside the Work Release Building at the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County's criminal justice system must address the issue of detainees being held on "buried alive" bond amounts, according to Stan Adelman, the ombudsman tasked with finding ways to relieve jail crowding.

Adelman told the Quorum Court's Jail/Law Enforcement/Courts Committee on Monday people are being held on bonds that don't reflect the nature of their crimes or the risk they pose to the community.

He said he is working with Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett and Sheriff Tim Helder to begin a dialog with the county's judges on the issue.

"In my last month's report, we listed over 100 people in the jail on high bonds that they cannot make, which doesn't reflect the seriousness of the crimes they are charged with," Adelman said.

Adelman characterized those high bond amounts as "buried alive" bonds and noted that many bonds for failure to appear are set at amounts of $50,000, $100,000 and higher.

"I want to see if we can come to a meeting of the minds on a more efficient way of dealing with FTAs," Adelman said. "I'm trying, if you will, to build a better mousetrap."

Adelman, an attorney and law professor, has recruited student volunteers from the University of Arkansas School of Law to assist him in his work for the county. In his March report to the justices of the peace, he said he and his team had interviewed 17 pretrial detainees in February and three of those were released directly or indirectly through their efforts. Since the ombudsman project began in September, Adelman and his student volunteers have seen 102 pretrial detainees and 18 of those people have been released. He estimated the county has saved 773 "bed days" in the jail through the release of those individuals.

Adelman said his work has expended about half the $15,000 appropriated by the Quorum Court for the project. He said the remainder should carry the ombudsman project through the summer, giving the Quorum Court time to consider whether to continue the effort.

Also Monday, Maj. Randall Denzer, who oversees the jail, told the justices of the peace the total population at the jail has dropped in recent weeks from a high of around 800 to 714 on Monday afternoon. Kelly Cantrell, public information officer for the Sheriff's Office, said there were still 85 detainees sleeping on the floor of the Detention Center as of Monday.

The Detention Center has a design capacity of 710 beds. The facility has an operating capacity of around 560-570 detainees because of legal requirements to separate different classifications of detainees.

Denzer said the recent drop could be attributed to the state Department of Correction removing several busloads of detainees awaiting space in state prisons, the transfer of some prisoners being held for the U.S. Marshals Service and a reduction in the number of detainees from Madison County from 37 to 27.

Denzer also said the number of detainees being released by sheriff's order or on their own recognizance has been increasing, growing from 257 in January to 290 in February.

"It's not something you can bet on," Denzer said of the drop in jail population. "It's just how things fell out."

Jail ombudsman Washington County hired Stan Adelman, an attorney and law professor, as an ombudsman last year to find ways to relieve crowding at the county’s Detention Center. Adelman told the Quorum Court’s Jail/Law Enforcement/Courts Committee on Monday he will have an in-depth report for the panel next month analyzing the successes of the program and continuing obstacles to the goal of maximizing limited jail space and minimizing “the unnecessary and harmful pretrial incarceration of non-dangerous persons who are financially unable to obtain pretrial release through traditional means.” Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette

NW News on 03/10/2020