it’s time for a new plan for dane county’s jail consolidation project.

our plAN RIGHT-SIZES THE JAIL AND DELIVERS CRITICAL, long-OVERDUE REFORMS TO our CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.

today, dane county incarcerates black people at double the national average.

Source: JFA Institute presentation to the Criminal Justice Council, July 28, 2022.

over-incarceration of black people is the primary driver of our jail population today:

On a given day in July 2022, about 400 jail residents were Black.

If we were in line with national averages, that number would be 200.

on any given day, 1.4% of dane county’s black population is incarcerated.

For a better and more just dane county, this has to change.

the reforms we propose will reduce racial disparities in our criminal justice system—disparities that lead the nation today.

the reforms we propose will mean fewer people held in jail, for less time.

with the adoption of our proposed reforms, a facility with 100 fewer beds than previously planned will meet dane county’s current and future needs.

a facility of this size will cost less—both initially and over time—than previous plans for the jail project.

this means taxpayer savings. it means more money to spend on community services, mentorship opportunities, violence prevention, and more.

it means more money to spend on measures that uplift communities, keep people well, and prevent incarceration.

this work is long overdue. so let’s come together and make these reforms happen:

weekend court

to reduce unnecessarily lengthy holds.

Dane County currently does not hold court proceedings on nights or weekends. This causes severe disruption to the lives of Dane County residents, and it needlessly increases the population of our jail. For example, someone who is booked—even for a minor violation—on a Friday evening must remain in jail through at least Monday or Tuesday of the following week. That is often four or five days lost, and it can result in job loss, childcare problems, and more.

We propose an 18-month pilot of a Weekend Court, held virtually. Analysis of the pilot should include analysis of both the average daily population impacted, as well as analysis of Weekend Court implementation based on gender, age, race, and ethnicity.

bail reform

to minimize cash bail and foster fairness and transparency in how it is used.

Most individuals with nonviolent misdemeanors are released after paying bail that is set based on the state bond schedule. However, some stay in jail and then proceed to initial appearance in front of a Court Commissioner, where they receive cash bail—even if the charge was non-violent. We understand that this occurs in order to ensure appearance in court, but we also know that there are other ways to do that, and we want to ensure that the standards for doing so are free from implicit bias.

We urge Court Commissioners to review how cash bail is used with the objective of reducing its use, and we urge Court Commissioners to account for racial disparities in how cash bail is used moving forward. Court Commissioners are to submit a report to the Dane County Board of Supervisors on a quarterly basis with a breakdown of each hold based on offense, gender, age, race, ethnicity, and whether or not cash bail was used.

arrest reform

to end the practice of arresting victims of crime for outstanding non-violent warrants.

Currently, those who report crimes may themselves be arrested if they have an outstanding arrest warrant—even if the warrant is for a non-violent crime. Imagine being the victim of a sexual assault, only to be arrested for something minor when you report it. This can and does happen in Dane County today, and it’s outrageous.

We urge law enforcement agencies throughout the county to not arrest those reporting crimes on the basis of an outstanding non-violent arrest warrant.

limiting the federal prisoners we hold

to reduce jail population and ensure that our prison resources are used for local residents.

The Dane County Jail holds federal prisoners. We argue that our jail resources should be reserved for local residents. The percentage of Dane County Jail residents who are federal prisoners is presently around 12-13% of the total jail population.

We urge the Sheriff to limit the number of federal prisoners held in our facility to 10% of the jail population, prioritizing prisoners who live in Dane County.

limiting length of probation & parole holds

to reduce unnecessarily lengthy holds.

Currently, individuals held for parole and probation violations, however minor, can last for months—even when the person is not actually charged with a crime. This needlessly increases the population of the Dane County Jail, and it causes severe disruption for those individuals as they seek to gain employment, social connections, and a better life.

We urge the Sheriff to work with the Department of Corrections to eliminate probation and parole holds unless extraordinary circumstances exist—and where holds are used, to limit them to 7 days without a charge.

finding alternatives to juvenile incarceration

TO better serve our youth.

Simply put—incarceration does not work for our youthful offenders.

We request that the Juvenile Court Administrator work with the Courts to reduce the incarceration of youthful offenders by identifying alternative diversion programs and services.

REGULAR REPORTING AND REVIEW

TO DRIVE ONGOING IMPROVEMENT OF OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM.

We urge the District Attorney, Public Defender, Courts, and the Sheriff to:

  • Provide quarterly reports on the utilization of cash bail, as outlined above.

  • Continue the newly established Jail Population Review Panel to reduce length of stay and move residents out of jail as quickly as possible.

  • Work with the Criminal Justice Council to make monthly updates to the Dane County Jail Population Demographic Dashboard providing jail demographic statistics by gender, race, age, ethnicity, ADA status, and judicial status.*

  • Provide monthly reporting on how many residents in the City-County Building floors six and seven are considered maximum security residents.*

  • Disaggregate the Daily Jail Report (produced by the Dane County Sheriff’s office) by gender, age, ethnicity, ADA status and judicial status by residents under roof and those on CAMP (alternative monitoring).*

*these measures were called for in Sub 1 2021-RES-320 as amended, but have not yet been implemented.

these changes to our criminal justice system require cooperation from many parties: The dane county board, the sheriff’s office, police departments throughout the county, the district attorney’s office, our public defenders, the court commissioners, and dane county’s judges.

the time is now.

this plan is based on data and projections from jfa associates, who has completed multiple studies with recommendations for dane county’s justice system.

it is also based on lessons learned from reforms enacted by municipalities throughout the united states.

in addition, we have taken extensive input from m.o.s.e.s., a madison-based organization focused on criminal justice reform & an end to mass incarceration.

The Black Caucus is ready to work with all parties in the criminal justice system to enact these reforms—and right the tremendous disparities and injustices faced today in Dane County.