Salt Lake County Jail

Salt Lake City’s police chief is frustrated over the amount of time it’s taking to book suspects into the Salt Lake County Jail.

The Deseret News reports police conducted a drug sweep Tuesday along 200 South between 200 West and 600 West in Salt Lake City. They had arrested 16 people when they called off the operation because the wait time to book suspects at the county jail had reached two hours.

Police Chief Chris Burbank says he’s concerned because this problem is becoming more frequent. He says the jail was warned weeks ago about the drug sweep.

Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Lt. Michael DeNiro tells the Deseret News a new computer system has slowed bookings in recent weeks, but he’s not sure what the problem was Tuesday night. He says additional staff was on duty for the drug sweep.

Burbank says the police department cannot afford to have officers make arrests then wait at the jail for two hours for their suspects to be booked.

The new computer system should make bookings quicker in the future.

Written By a KSL.com Editor – Original story can be found here.

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Richard Gettler was first locked up in the Salt Lake County Jail in 1990.

Each time he was released, he would stay out just long enough to do something that put him right back in.

But during this stay, Gettler took the Life Skills class the jail offers, and he says he’s a changed man.

“I now understand the responsibility I have to society. I never understood that before,” he said through tears March 18 as he addressed the audience at the Life Skills class graduation. “I’ve never been successful at anything in my life. This is the first time I’ve been successful at something positive.”

The Life Skills class began in January 2007, and by then end of 2009, about 400 jail inmates had taken the 150-hour course, learning about topics such as anger management, personal finance and writing a résumé. Jail officials want to track one more year of data to see long-term effects, but in the first two years, they’ve seen a recidivism rate of about 64 percent, as opposed to the recidivism rate of inmates who don’t take the class at 70 to 74 percent.

“It’s not a huge difference, but it is fairly significant,” said Sgt. Jeremy Martinez, who oversees treatment and education in the Jail Programs Division. “Part of the goal is to prepare the prisoners for what reality is when they get out. It is promising to know we’re having an effect.”

What that effect is depends on the inmate.

Gettler hopes to apply the lessons he learned in parenting classes so he can interact better with his children and one day take his son fishing.

Others, such as Brandon Olson, hope they can apply the parenting lessons, too.

Olson, 28, has been in jail nine times. He hopes this class not only helps him keep himself out of jail for a 10th time, but it also made him realize that he needs to stop depending on others to take care of him and instead take care of his own family.

While it’s hard for many of the graduates to articulate specific situations in which they’ll apply their new skills, Olson said he learned how to disagree with someone without yelling at the person and turning it into a fight.

For Silvano Guadarrama, it’s been a journey of self-discovery.

The 18-year-old pleaded guilty to four charges of illegal discharge of a firearm, and spent four months in detention as a juvenile. When he turned 18, he moved over to the Salt Lake County Oxbow Jail, where he has been for the past six months and is now awaiting his early-June release date.

But it’s the past month that he says has been revolutionary.

“I’ve learned truth out of this class. I was living the typical gang lifestyle, and I didn’t really have any remorse, but now I realize there are victims, and some are innocent bystanders like my family,” Guadarrama said. “I’ve never had anyone push me to make myself better before. I know who I am now. I am in control of my own destiny.”

That attitude change is exactly what officers say they see in the inmates who take the class. While a lower recidivism rate is a bonus, the goal of the class is to ease the transition of re-entry into the outside world after being institutionalized. Both officers at the jail and people from the community — including personal accountants, health department workers and career-placement specialists — teach the course. They require homework and introspection that some find too difficult. The class is capped at 32 inmates, but this time only 23 finished.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder, who handed out certificates of completion to the graduates and posed for photos with them, called the program a “huge deal.”

“This is where we’re trying to head in corrections. It’s not just about bringing inmates in and housing them,” Winder said. “I wish we could open this up to the entire jail because I know if we did, in two years we wouldn’t be facing overcrowding.”

Many of the students agreed with making the program more widespread.

Tomas Cortez, 33, who was sentenced to a year in jail for aggravated burglary, heard about the class from fellow inmates.

“I wish this program got a lot more recognition from the courts and that judges required us to take this class,” Cortez said. “Being sent to a place where the criminal mentality is the majority is counterproductive. In this class, we learned healthy life skills.”

Martinez congratulated the 23 inmates for persevering through the class, but also told them this was only the first step in making a permanent life change.

“I know it’s not going to be easy when you leave this place, but I’ve already seen big changes in you,” Martinez said. “When you do get out, I hope each of you has a five-minute goal, and then goals after that. Reality is reality, and it’s up to you.”

Written By: Sheena McFarland – Salt Lake Tribune

Popularity: 13%

Inmates getting out early in Weber / Tight economy, Reduced Staff Force Sheriff to Make a Move.

OGDEN — After cutting 25 staffing positions, officials at Weber County Jail will begin to release certain inmates earlier than their sentenced release time because of a shortage in the staff-to-inmate ratio.

Because of the staff cuts, the jail has an unusual overcrowding situation — while there are still plenty of beds, there are not enough staff people to run the facility safely.

“The county has had a significant reduction in revenue,” Weber County Sheriff Brad Slater told the Standard-Examiner editorial board Monday. “Part of our share of that reduction package was to do away with 25 full-time positions. It needed to be done. It’s tough on everybody. What that equates to is a reduction of certain areas of services that we’ve been able to provide.”

Because of the staff cuts, Slater said, the jail isn’t able to hold as many inmates. To address the problem, Slater decided to implement a program that will allow inmates being held as part of their probation, instead of serving time in prison, to be released before their sentences are completed.

“It’s been an issue that has occurred over the last several years, where condition of probation inmates were being held in the county jail in lieu of going to prison,” he said. “That number kept going up, and the funding kept getting smaller and smaller.”

Slater said he plans to allow about 100 of the 215 condition of probation inmates to have early release starting next week. He said the inmates must have completed at least 70 percent of their sentences before they are released. The decision as to which inmates are allowed to be released early will be made by inmate classification staff at the jail.

This isn’t the first time the jail has had issues with overcrowding. Slater said in the 1990s, the jail experienced a similar situation, when the size of the facility wasn’t able to handle the number of inmates.

“We started to see problems coming where we couldn’t function as a jail,” he said. “We would be just more of a satellite prison, and not really be able to accommodate the police departments and folks that needed places to put people in.”

Before the jail off 12th Street was built, Slater said, most inmates who were not arrested for felony charges were simply booked and released, because there was no room at the jail. They are implementing the early release program to avoid this kind of situation happening again.

Slater said Utah County and the Salt Lake county jail have had to start very similar programs because of a decline in funding. He said Davis County Jail has not yet been affected by extreme budget cuts.

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SALT LAKE COUNTY JAIL COMPLAINTS — A man Salt Lake police described as a “serial child predator” in 2008 for exposing himself to schoolchildren, has been arrested again for investigation of the same crime.

Donald Royce Williard, 29, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail late last week for investigation of seven felony counts of lewdness involving a child and one count of misdemeanor lewdness.

Salt Lake police say Thursday afternoon, Williard was riding a bike in the area of 1125 S. 900 East, stopping at random and exposing himself when he saw children walking home from school. At one point, he stood naked in front of a LDS meetinghouse on the steps, walked around for a little bit, and committed a lewd act, according to Salt Lake County Jail records.

Because Williard is a registered sex offender, police say any potential charges should be elevated to felonies.

Salt Lake police detectives are very familiar with Williard. In November 2008, he was arrested for investigation of four counts of lewdness involving a child and two counts involving an adult. His case sparked outrage, even from Chief Chris Burbank, when Williard was released a couple of hours later because of jail overcrowding. He was rebooked into jail two days later.

In May 2008, Williard was arrested for investigation of gross lewdness and voyeurism. He was charged in November 2008 for an earlier incident at Wasatch Elementary School in which prosecutors said he exposed himself to children on the playground.

In March 2009, he was convicted in 3rd District Court of three misdemeanor counts of lewdness involving a child. He was given probation and a suspended jail sentence. He was also required to register with the Utah Sex Offender Registry.

In August 2009, however, he was convicted on two more lewdness counts relating to incidents in October and November of 2008. His probation was revoked and he was sentenced to jail. He was released in December 2009. On Jan. 12, 2010, Williard’s case was closed, according to court records.

Police say they are hoping his latest arrest will result in another conviction and a longer sentence.

“Obviously he’s not going to stop,” said Salt Lake police detective Pat Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said police were also looking for potential additional victims who may have come in contact with Williard. Anyone who may have been victimized by Williard is asked to call police at 801-799-3000.

Written by: Pat Reavy – The Deseret News

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SALT LAKE CITY — During debate about whether to sign a resolution on jail reimbursement with Weber, Davis and Utah counties, Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi boiled the issue down to a single question.

“Are we willing to raise taxes on our residents to take care of state problems?” Horiuchi asked.

With that, the council voted unanimously to have a resolution prepared to approve next week. The resolution would join Salt Lake County with three neighbors in a management strategy for dealing with condition of probation prisoners, convicted prisoners who are court ordered to attend a probationary facility rather than prison.

The problem is one of funding. The state doesn’t view condition of probation prisoners as state prisoners and doesn’t budget for them. Counties don’t claim them, either, leaving no one to pick up the tab for the inmates.

The four-county effort would create two separate management plans — one governing county prisoners in county facilities and the other covering state prisoners in county facilities.

Salt Lake County Council Chairman Joe Hatch said the county has always eliminated beds when faced with budget deficits during his eight years on the council. Now, he said, it’s time to try something new.

“We have to have a slight shift in how we approach it to see if that has an effect on the state policy of correction,” Hatch said. “I don’t agree with Utah County on anything, and I’m willing to agree with them on this.”

According to Hatch, this year the state delivered only half of what it promised to help cover costs of housing condition of probation prisoners. That would leave a $900,000 funding gap on July 1 and an even bigger one next year, because the Legislature currently has budgeted no money for jail reimbursement.

“We’re simply housing state prisoners,” Hatch said, “and we’re being expected to go to our residents to collect the money. I think it’s really unfair for us to carry that burden as we have.”

The resolution would unite the four counties with 80 percent of the prisoners in question in lobbying the Legislature, as well as dealing with the budget shortfall uniformly.

If the state provides no funding for its share of the prisoners and still sends more than its quota of inmates, it could mean some prisoners go free to make room for others. Several council members, including Jenny Wilson and Steve DeBry, expressed concern about that idea.

“I wish we could talk about this as a global correction punishment issue,” Hatch said, “but it isn’t. It’s unique funding issue.”

Written by: Abigail Shaha | The Deseret News

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Counties along the Wasatch Front are fed up with the state of Utah reimbursing them less and less money for the cost of housing state inmates in county jails.  Now, Salt Lake County is considering whether to join Davis, Weber and Utah Counties in capping the number of state inmates they’ll accept.  Sheriff Jim Winder says the county is only getting reimbursed about 25 percent of what it costs to house state prisoners.

“We average about 300 inmates a day that are of this type, and it costs us $80 a day to house those inmates, and we are reimbursed by the state, presently, at about $22 a day,” he told KCPW.

Winder fears with the state budget facing massive cuts, lawmakers might decide this session not to reimburse county jails a single penny for housing state prisoners.  He hopes lawmakers preserve or increase jail reimbursement to avoid having to release additional inmates.

County Council Chairman Joe Hatch is torn about the proposal to cap the number of inmates the county will accept from the state.  He doesn’t want to see violent criminals released, but he’s also frustrated by the legislature continuing to slash jail reimbursements.

“And that frustration has got to a point that I think we have to do anything, and maybe it’s to the point where desperate times deserve desperate actions, and this is very desperate action, I have to say, it is a very extreme desperate action to take,” said Hatch.

The council will debate the proposed inmate cap at its meeting this afternoon.

Written by: Jeff Robinson | KCPW News

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A bill that would force health insurance firms to pay the health care costs of inmates — if the firms were getting premiums from the inmate or his family — failed in the House Tuesday.

HB22 sponsoring Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said he did not know why “big insurance firms” could refuse to pay for inmate health care just because the patient was in the state prison or jail.

But most House members voted against the bill, saying state taxpayers should pick up the cost, even if the inmate is insured.

Opponents said during debate that the bill painted insurers as bad guys, when in fact the bad guys are the ones who broke laws that got them arrested and incarcerated. They also argued that the bill was anti-free market and smacked of government takeover of a private enterprise.

Although the bill exempted insurers from covering wounds that were the result of fighting in jail or were self-inflicted, the majority of House members apparently were swayed by arguments that the bill amounted to a paradigm shift in the state’s legal obligation to house, feed and see to the medical needs of all Utahns in the custody of county and state corrections agencies.

In the 2008 election, the insurance industry gave $313,311 to state-level candidates (including the Legislature, governor and attorney general), according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Insurance companies gave the second-most of any industry that year, outdistanced only by the securities and investment industry, which gave $614,207, according to the institute.

And big insurance companies lose few political fights in the Utah Legislature.

The bill would save county jails more money than the state, with only a handful of felons in the state prison having outside health insurance. But a number of county jail inmates, who may be sentenced for several months up to a year, have insurance while incarcerated, Ray said.

“Taxpayers are getting hammered, and it’s time for insurance companies to step up and pay for what they’ve contracted for,” said Ray just before his bill was voted down on a 30-44 vote.

Written by: Bob Bernick Jr. and James Thalman | The Deseret News

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Shots fired when car runs over officer’s foot during alleged drug deal.

(Our personal opinion, is this officer needs a serious lesson on when to use his weapon.)

Before he died, Travis Paul Johnson told his mother he didn’t hold a grudge against the police officer who had shot him.

“He was a very good man,” Penny Johnson said of her son. “The only thing he cared about was forgiving the police officer.”

Johnson, 39, died Tuesday at Intermountain Medical Center. A West Valley City police officer shot him in a Burger King parking lot near 3500 South and Redwood Road on Jan. 27 during an alleged drug deal.

According to West Valley City Police, Johnson hit an officer with his Pontiac Grand Am as he tried to drive away from officers. At least three plainclothes officers were monitoring the alleged drug exchange between Johnson and a friend and people in a second car moments before the shooting, West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan said.

Penny Johnson said Wednesday that her son used drugs, but she said she believed him before he died when he told her he wasn’t involved in a drug deal.

What she can’t come to grips with is why police had to shoot him.

“I don’t know why the policeman shot him” she said. “He didn’t hit him [with the car] on purpose. He just panicked.”

Johnson said her son had been a construction worker until May 2008 when he fell 50 feet off a roof and shattered both ankles and his back. She said he was scheduled to undergo surgery again soon and had been on the mend.

Johnson admits she doesn’t know “totally everything that happened” on Jan. 27.

She just wishes her son was still alive.

“He just got caught in a bad place and he was afraid,” Johnson said. “I don’t think he should have been shot. He was unarmed.”

McLachlan previously told The Salt Lake Tribune that at least one officer fired at Johnson because he thought the other officer’s life was in danger when the car ran over the officer’s foot.

After Johnson was shot, his car rolled forward into the Burger King wall where it stopped.

Police arrested four other men in connection with the incident. They remain incarcerated in the Salt Lake County jail.

The Salt Lake County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, but has not yet issued a ruling on whether the use of force was justified by police.

Johnson said she and her 10 other children are preparing to bury Travis on Saturday.

“My son was very loving, very good and had a very big heart,” she said.

Written by: Jason Bergreen and Melinda Rogers | The Salt Lake Tribune

Popularity: 8%

SALT LAKE COUNTY — A familiar name in law enforcement is going to make a run at the job of Salt Lake County sheriff. Beau Babka made the announcement Friday morning from the Salt Lake County Jail.

In 2002 he ran against then-Sheriff Aaron Kennard. Now, he’s going to make a run against his former boss, incumbent Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.

Babka said, “I announce my candidacy for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Department and for the office of sheriff, and I’m looking to be the nominee for the Republican Party.”

Babka has been a member of the Cottonwood Heights Police Department since 2008. He has been in law enforcement for 18 years, and he’s also taught college courses on criminal justice.

In 2004, he deviated from police work and made a run for Congress. As a Democrat, he ran unsuccessfully against Republican incumbent Chris Cannon for the 3rd Congressional District seat.

A couple of years ago he switched political parties, and now he’ll seek the nomination as a Republican. He hopes to lock that up at the county convention in April.

“I believe with the experience that I’ve had with students, with community people, with elected officials, with other law enforcement officers, I think I can bring a very unique style, a collaborative style, cooperative style,” Babka said.

One of the first things Babka will examine, if elected, are the new fees that have been assessed on residents who are now served by the newly-formed Unified Police Department.

Winder told KSL on Friday he was looking forward to the race. Winder is completing his first term as sheriff.

Who is … Beau Babka?

Written by: Keith McCord | KSL News

Popularity: 8%

Council urges state to pay may or some inmates will be set free.

Felons could get a shorter stay in Salt Lake County’s jail if the Utah Legislature doesn’t pay more for state inmates.

The County Council has signed a resolution — and ordered an ordinance drafted — that could release state convicts early from jail if the Legislature doesn’t provide enough funding to house them. The less money, officials say, the less bed space for felons who are sentenced to the county lockup.

“There does come a time,” Councilman Randy Horiuchi said, “when you have to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”

The Utah Association of Counties has lobbied for similar measures in Davis, Utah and Weber counties, hoping to persuade lawmakers to put more cash into jail reimbursements.
While the state is supposed to split the cost of incarcerating felons in county jails, UAC Executive Director Brent Gardner said, actual funding has fallen far below that. The state set aside $6.5 million for jail reimbursements in this year’s budget, he says, but should be spending closer to $15 million.

UAC’s initiative now has the support of Utah’s most-populous county, where council members unanimously supported a resolution saying they will not continue to subsidize the state’s financial shortfalls.

“It is outrageous that the state, on a yearly basis, provides this unfunded mandate to county governments,” Mayor Peter Corroon said. That mandate affects public safety, “not only for the unincorporated county but for the cities we serve”

The resolution comes as yet another development in the long-running debate about how much the state should pay for inmates serving out their sentences in county jails.

The recession has only deepened the rift. Jails in Utah and Weber counties have reduced bed space because of budget woes.

Salt Lake County Councilman Joe Hatch characterized it as a “very difficult thing to do” to consider turning away felons because of inadequate state funding. But, he said, “we need the money.”

The question now is whether the state, also in a financial bind, will cough up the cash at a time when it is considering closing a prison pod of its own.

Written by: Jeremiah Stettler | The Salt Lake Tribune

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