Dallas County jail nears 100% capacity; commissioner pushes for more inmate releases
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Commissioners concerned as Dallas County jail nears full capacity
Capacity for men and women is at more than 8,100. Currently, the jail is nearly 90% full. One commissioner is casting most of the blame on the judges handling felony charges. County documents show about 1,000 felony cases have not been filed.
DALLAS - The Dallas County jail is at 96% capacity and a Dallas County commissioner says defense attorneys have to do more to get their clients out of jail.
Tuesday’s count showed 6,826 people in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center.
The jail is only certified to hold 7,119 men and women in total.
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Commissioner John Wiley Price says there are 292 more people in jail today than this time last year and that public defenders and private defense lawyers have to try and move their clients.
"Those defense attorneys to take action and file writs on behalf of the clients who've been in custody for over 90 days," he said. "And there are a number of them over 90 days with unfiled cases."
"We continue to work on it and try to encourage all the attorneys over at Frank Crowley — not just public defenders but private bar to do so as well," said Dallas County Administrator Lynn Pride Richardson. "I think you'll see a significant decrease in the number of individuals in the jail if they really do what we're asking them to do, which is to follow the law."
On Tuesday, Richardson was promoted to county administrator. Before, she was the Dallas County chief public defender.
State law says if you've been arrested on a felony and in jail for 90 days but not indicted, you can be released on a personal recognizance bond after an attorney files what's called a writ of habeas corpus.
The county's criminal justice department administrator told the court her team is contacting lawyers individually to see if they have clients eligible to get out of jail.
The sheriff's office is working with local police agencies also on arrests and transport of non-violent individuals.