SHERIFF NOT READY TO TAKE CITY PRISONERS

JACKSON, Mo. -- Sheriff John Jordan has shut the door for now on any possibility of housing Cape Girardeau city prisoners in the county jail.

City officials haven't approached Jordan with the idea, but Mayor Al Spradling III suggested the move following the release of a draft report of a study that looked at ways to improve operations of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Jordan says the new jail in Jackson often is close to capacity with its own prisoners and federal inmates it is committed to hold.

The county jail can hold 152 prisoners. The county guarantees 42 beds for federal prisoners under a contract with the U.S. Marshal's Service.

Jordan told the Cape Gir-ardeau County Commission Monday that he isn't ready to take on city prisoners in the nearly 5-month-old jail. He said he wants to see how the jail population stands after a year.

"We've really got to get a year under our belt," the sheriff said.

Even then, any city prisoners likely would have to be held in the old county cell blocks that adjoin the new jail, Jordan said.

Six two-person cells have been renovated in the old jail to house female prisoners. County commissioners said Monday they want a contractor to upgrade the fire alarms so the sheriff can begin using the renovated cells.

Women jailed elsewhere

The old cells are needed because the new jail can house only 10 female prisoners. As a result, the county has to house from five to eight women prisoners in the Mississippi County Jail at Charleston, Mo., at a cost of $35 a day, Jordan said.

Spradling suggested earlier this month that the city could save money by eliminating the city jail and housing its prisoners in the county jail. The savings could be used to improve the police department, he said.

The study by the Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, D.C., found fault with a number of police department operations, including the city jail. The draft report said the jail is too dirty, not handicapped accessible and needs more jailers to beef up security.

The jail, located in the police station on Sprigg Street, has bunk space for 30 prisoners. It has held as many as 35 prisoners for short periods of time, the study said.

No council discussion

While the mayor believes the city might be wise to close its jail and rely on the county, the Cape Girardeau City Council hasn't embraced the idea.

Councilmen Richard "Butch" Eggimann and Tom Neumeyer said the council hasn't discussed moving prisoners to the county jail.

The city jail is operated as part of the police department and doesn't have a separate budget. City manager Michael Miller said his staff hasn't calculated what savings, if any, the city would have paying the county to house its prisoners.

While eliminating the city jail would free up space for police department operations, Eggimann and Neumeyer said it would be impractical to constantly haul city prisoners from the jail in Jackson to municipal court in Cape Gir-ardeau and back again.

Neumeyer said the city ideally needs to build a justice center, which could house both a jail and city court.

Eggimann and Neumeyer said the council's first priority is to hire a police chief to replace Rick Hetzel, who resigned. It could be another two months before a police chief is hired, Neumeyer said.