Inmates released due to jail overcrowding

On Wednesday, Oakland County Circuit Court Chief Judge Pro Tempore Shalina Kumar ordered sentence reductions for 228 inmates housed at the Oakland County Jail in an effort to alleviate the jail overcrowding state of emergency declared by Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard on Aug. 8. Michigan law mandates that inmates receive sentence reductions if they would not present a high risk to the public safety. The sentence reductions are required by law to alleviate an overcrowded condition in the county jail. Those receiving sentence reductions include both sentenced misdemeanants and felons. The inclusion of sentenced felons was necessary to alleviate the jail overcrowding emergency. Inmates sentenced on assaultive or drunk driving charges were not granted time cuts. Kumar ordered a careful and deliberative review of all eligible inmates before deciding upon those who would be granted sentence reductions. In addition to excluding inmates with assaultive or drunk driving offenses, inmates were screened for pending warrants from other counties and parole violations in other jurisdictions. These activities were undertaken by a group of law enforcement and administration of justice officials appointed by Kumar. This last jail overcrowding emergency in which sentence reductions were ordered by the court occurred on March 16 this year. Published: Fri, Aug 24, 2012

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