COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) - Concerns that the recent high number of arrests in Branch County would require the declaration of a jail overcrowding emergency and the early release of prisoners have eased for the time being. An expected emergency order from Circuit Court was avoided, but just barely.
The inmate count at the lockup at the end of the day Friday was 141. That ended six straight days during which the prisoner population exceeded 142, the rated capacity of the jail. When it’s over capacity for 7 days in-a-row, the court has 3 days to act and usually issues the order to reduce the population to 90% of the rated capacity.
The number of inmates recently peaked this week on Wednesday at 153. The last time prisoners had their sentences reduced in Branch County with an overcrowding situation was in 2010.