COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – It appears Branch County authorities may have to declare their first jail overcrowding emergency of 2015. The last two days, the inmate population numbered 150 and the booking sheets issued by the Sheriff’s Department indicates the number of prisoners has exceeded the rated capacity of 142 for the lockup for the last 7 days in-a-row.
The 7 consecutive days is the trigger point for the Sheriff to verify the figures and usually 3 days later, a notification letter is sent to the courts and an emergency declaration is made. Last year, there were four jail overcrowding emergencies and on 3 occasions, a number of inmates were granted early releases based on either sentence or bond reductions to get the population back down below the rated capacity for the jail.
