Legislature committee hears calls for detox alternatives and prisoner perspectives in jail study

Rich John, chair of the Jail Study Committee, said the committee had heard from Judge Scott Miller and other stakeholders about drug-related cases and the need for alternatives to incarceration, including a mandatory detox facility or enhanced diversion pathways.

"He made a very impassioned plea that we need another pathway, that we need a detox facility, a mandatory detox facility where a judge could send somebody rather than putting them in our jail," John summarized to the full legislature. Committee members also discussed letters from women detained in the jail describing addiction-related admissions and asking for more programming and continuity of care between in-jail and community services.

The committee is arranging further stakeholder input, including service providers and consultants, and plans to continue the discussion at future meetings.