Taney County bails out of jail agreement with Springfield

Taney County officials decided to end their inmate housing agreement with Springfield on Monday.

Taney County Sheriff Jimmie Russell told the News-Leader the jail in Forsyth is not set up to handle the large number of municipal inmates coming from Springfield.

"We don't have the room for it. We've got one person working in booking and bringing people in. The first weekend they started, we booked 39 people in, not counting the ones we had to release. We cannot handle that influx," Russell said.

Russell said the Taney County Jail will stop accepting Springfield inmates in 60 days.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams said the news from Taney County was "disappointing but not unexpected."

"Conceivably, in 60 days, we go back to where we were before," Williams said. "We did that for a year. We could be there again. It is what it is."

For nearly a year, Springfield police had no way of locking municipal inmates up because Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott effectively barred suspects arrested on municipal charges from the local jail.

Arnott said the jail is overcrowded and he would rather not house municipal inmates, which are people arrested in Springfield for charges in connection with the violation of municipal laws — usually less serious charges like trespassing or stealing, while letting serious offenders go.

City officials said having no access to a jail took away an important tool to enforce laws and to deter repeat offenders.

Tension between Springfield and Greene County officials escalated, leading to an ongoing lawsuit. A judge is expected to make an important decision on the suit within the next few weeks. The judge could clear up conflicts such as whether Springfield has a right to the jail and if it should pay Greene County for access.

Springfield began shipping its municipal inmates to Miller and Taney counties at the end of May.

Council members lauded the plan at the time as a good stopgap solution, while the city tries to gain access to the local jail again.

"I feel a sense of relief ... we will be able to lock people up," Councilman Craig Fishel said during a council meeting.

Now, less than six months into year-long contracts, both counties have bailed out of the agreement, leaving Springfield in a difficult situation.

Chief Williams and Springfield Mayor Bob Stephens traveled to Joplin last week to make an appeal to Joplin City Council. They talked about a plan to house Springfield inmates at the Joplin City Jail for $50 a day, per inmate. The proposal was denied by Joplin in a 7-0 vote, with two members of their council absent.

Some Joplin officials said the plan was overwhelmingly unpopular among their constituents. They cited concerns that many of the inmates — likely to be poor or homeless — would be stuck in Joplin once they were released.

Williams said he is continuing to search for jail space but did not appear optimistic: "There are not a lot of options. I'm not aware of a county within a hundred miles that either isn't full or is already housing prisoners from Greene County."

Miller County terminated its contract with Springfield in August. The Miller County Clerk Clinton Jenkins described to the News-Leader the reasons behind the county commission's decision.

Jenkins said some Springfield inmates were stuck without a ride back after being released from the Miller County Jail, which caused issues for people in his rural community.

Jenkins said the other reason is that the Miller County sheriff's department has had difficulty keeping deputies on the road due to a high turnover rate.

Russell, the Taney County sheriff, said he has also gotten many complaints about stranded Springfield residents.

"They are going from business to business, trying to use phones, trying to get rides, trying to get food. Most of them don't have any money," Russell said.

Russell said that wasn't the reason Taney County decided to end the contract, however.

Russell said the issue was capacity at the Taney County Jail: "We have our own prisoners. We have Highway Patrol bringing people in. We have an agreement with the city of Branson ... we can only take so many people safely."

Williams said he understands.

"We don't want to overload them. They were doing us a favor," Williams said. "We'll keep doing it for another two months, and we'll see what happens."