COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Branch County Sheriff’s Department issued its second jail overcrowding emergency in two months to the Branch County courts and officials Thursday afternoon.
Undersheriff Keith Eichler says the order was issued after the average count for the last week came out to 149 inmates. The jail has a capacity of 142 inmates.
The inmate count Friday morning was 141, just below capacity by one inmate.
Eichler says seven Branch County female inmates are lodged at another county jail.
The last overcrowding took place December 15, 2017 when there was a one week average count of 148. Eichler says that overcrowding worked itself out six days later.
