“The commissioners need to realize we’re not just an organization that runs a jail and serves civil papers,” Plummer said. “We need properly staffed, we need properly funded so we can help out everybody in this community.”
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Commissioners denied that politics played a role in their request last week and insist the jail has problems that require better leadership and management — not more money.
Commissioners said the sheriff’s overall budget has increased in the last 10 years, and he’s responsible for staffing decisions that impact jail safety.
“It’s about policies, it’s about training, it’s about standards, it’s about the culture of the working environment,” said Board of Commissioners President Dan Foley. “He can fix this, and he needs to.”
On Tuesday, an eighth lawsuit was filed against the jail and county alleging civil rights violations. Also, at the county commission’s regular afternoon meeting, a community activist called on commissioners to cut funding to the sheriff and change ownership and operation of the jail and and establish a community task force to oversee jail operations.
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On Feb. 7, the county commissioners sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department’s Special Litigation Section requesting an immediate investigation into potential civil rights violations and improper use of force against inmates at the county jail.
Commissioners said the county has been hit with multiple lawsuits that claim inmates were mistreated, injured or had their civil rights violated while incarcerated at the jail. If they succeed or settle, the lawsuits could potentially cost the county millions of dollars.
Commissioners said an inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department would be an unbiased way of examining jail practices to root out problems that have led to litigation and allegations of mistreatment.
Sheriff Plummer accused the commissioners of acting with political motivations.
Plummer is the chair of Montgomery County Republican Party, while all three commissioners are Democrats.
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Plummer also said the commissioners lack any meaningful understanding of jail operations, and he accused commissioners of not providing the jail with adequate funding and resources to combat issues such as addiction and mental and behavioral health.
On Monday, Plummer said he needs more resources from the federal government to fight drug trafficking, noting he doesn’t have “enough boots on the ground.”
“I have been in serious battles with my county commissioners asking for additional resources and they have not produced them,” Plummer said. “Now, I’m going to the federal government to ask for resources to combat this problem.”
Plummer said commissioners hold the “purse strings” and he’s limited with what he can do because of insufficient funding from county leadership.
The sheriff requested $34.1 million from the general fund for 2017, but was allocated $30.5 million. The bulk of the additional funds he sought were for the jail.
RELATED County budget for 2017 calls for higher spending
But commissioners told this news organization that the sheriff is misrepresenting the financial facts. Commissioners said the sheriff’s budget in 2017 was increased by $400,000 for additional services to address addiction, mental and behavioral health and other medical issues.
Between 2008 and 2017, the sheriff’s budget has increased by $6.2 million to $51.8 million, commissioners said, while the county’s all funds budget decreased 7 percent to $860.4 million.
The sheriff’s general fund allocation decreased 8 percent during that 10-year period, county data show.
But commissioners said that was consistent with an overall 7 percent drop in the county’s general fund budget. The sheriff was elected in 2008.
Between 2008 and 2017, the sheriff’s payroll has contracted by 35 positions to 436 employees. Some employees were laid off while other unfilled positions were eliminated.
But commissioners said the sheriff is in charge of his departments’ staffing decisions, and he chose to cut 33 of those 35 positions from the jail.
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“The response can’t just be, ‘I need more money,’” said Commissioner Foley. “The response has to be a sincere effort to solve the problems. Money may be a piece of it, but money doesn’t speak to culture, money doesn’t speak to training, money doesn’t speak to standards.”
The sheriff denies that problems exist and claims he’s addressed misconduct internally, even though there is no evidence that has occurred, Commissioner Debbie Lieberman said.
“We don’t want to run the jail,” Lieberman said. “But it’s our responsibility to ask questions and say, ‘What’s going on?” without having anger thrown back at us.”
On Tuesday, Bishop Richard Cox with a group called Justice for Racial Equality & Brotherhood urged the commission to cut off all funding to the sheriff and jail, close and privatize the jail and form a community board to oversee the facility.
Community activist Keith Lander said a federal probe is needed to restore confidence in the jail, especially because the sheriff has not provided any community update on allegations about use of force, the segregation of black inmates, the disappearance of records and other incidents that occurred at the facility.
“We need answers to this, the public needs answers to this, we need reassurance,” he said.
STAYING WITH THE STORY
We have extensively covered issues related to the Montgomery County Jail and lawsuits filed against its employees. We will continue to follow major steps in the request for a federal investigation.
RELATED COVERAGE
A federal civil rights lawsuit — the eighth active one — was filed Tuesday against Montgomery County Jail employees. B1