By John Sharp
al.com
MOBILE, Ala. — Mobile Metro Jail is under a rare “hurricane protocol” due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases inside the downtown facility leading to two dozen inmates being released on their own recognizance.
The released inmates are facing non-violent misdemeanor charges, according to Sheriff Sam Cochran. He said exceptions include people facing misdemeanor charges of domestic violence, a DUI, and failure to appear in court. If a defendant commits the same or “any other” crime while out on recognizance before their court date, they will not qualify for a second release.
“We’re experiencing what everyone else in the state is experiencing in a rapid spread of this delta variant,” Cochran said. “Because we are in a confined area, most people who work (at the jail) wear masks and keep inmates isolated and if we move them, we are putting a mask on them. We’ve limited the movement in the jail.”
Cochran said 110 inmates incarcerated on Monday tested positive for COVID-19, which is a gain of about 20 new infections since the weekend. That amounts to approximately 8% of the jail’s 1,400 inmates.
He said an additional five jail employees tested positive for the virus.
Cochran said aside from the 24 released inmates, 14 others were homeless people who were eligible for release but could not be let out of the jail “because we don’t have an address to put on the bond to sign and let them go.”
He said the Sheriff’s administration is discussing Wednesday on how to handle homeless inmates who face misdemeanor charges only.
“We’re continuing to review, but we have not released anyone else thus far,” he said.
Cochran said the jail has 150 inmates incarcerated with misdemeanor charges, but he suspects a majority also have pending felony charges that would disqualify them from being released on recognizance. He said that during hurricane emergencies, non-violent inmates facing felony charges will also be released. He said that Sheriff’s Department is not contemplating the release of any inmates charged with felonies at this time.
“As we go forward with COVID, it depends on how the situation develops,” he said. “We just don’t have the space to create all of the various isolations we have to do with those who have COVID, and those who are quarantined to those who are violent and in need of being in a separate (holding cell) from others. It’s a tremendous amount of management and separation that needs to go in to it.”
The Sheriff’s Department announced a week ago that it was putting a temporary halt to inmate visitations. At the time, 66 inmates were sickened with the virus.
Hurricane protocols, Cochran said, have not been used in at least a decade. They were not instituted last year when two strong hurricanes – Hurricane Sally in September and Hurricane Zeta in October – swept through Coastal Alabama, causing major damage to structures in either Baldwin or Mobile counties.
“It’s been years and years,” Cochran said.
The jail, however, has not had a medical emergency among those infected by COVID-19. He said a majority of his employees are vaccinated, and that the jail has been offering vaccinations to inmates upon their arrival.
“We offer the COVID shots to everyone who comes into the jail, and any time someone does come into the jail, we do a rapid test on them,” Cochran said. “If they do (test positive), we put them into a COVID wing and keep them separate from the general population.”
In Baldwin County, the Sheriff’s Department has held two vaccination clinics this past month within the Corrections Center. During the first round of vaccinations, 100 inmates received the shot. The second round, last week, over 50 inmates were vaccinated. A third round is scheduled within approximately three weeks.
The Baldwin County Corrections Center, which is based in Bay Minette, had 43 of its 638 inmates test positive for the virus on Wednesday. The Sheriff Department’s medical staff is monitoring and treating the sickened inmates.
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