First jail overcrowding emergency of 2015 declared

COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Sheriff John Pollack has declared the first jail overcrowding emergency of 2015 for the Branch County Jail, which has now gone 11 straight days and counting with a population over the rated capacity of 142. This morning, the jail population stood at 152 inmates. Any decision on sentence or bond reductions to bring the jail population back below its rated capacity is now in the hands of the courts, which received the notification letter yesterday afternoon. Last year, the Sheriff’s Department declared four jail overcrowding emergencies; on three of those occasions, the courts authorized the early release of a number of inmates.