Nationally, drug arrests account for nearly a quarter of the most serious offenses of those incarcerated.
By Preston Sparks
The Augusta Chronicle
AUGUSTA, Ga. — What crime has put the most people in jail?
If you said drugs, you’d be close.
Drug arrests and subsequent offenses that come with them account for 20 percent or more of the arrests nationwide that keep someone behind bars -- something that in Richmond County costs taxpayers about $45 per day per inmate.
“We have a lot of drug stuff,” said Richmond County sheriff’s Maj. Gene Johnson, who oversees the Walton Way jail and one on Phinizy Road. While he could not provide an exact percentage of those held on drug charges, he said, such crimes also fill cells with many burglary and theft cases connected to drugs because the thieves might be stealing to pay for their habit.
“From abuse of prescription drugs to illegal drugs, we have a little everything,” he said.
Look at Jan. 16, a Friday, when 11 people were booked on various drug-related charges at the Richmond County jail. That accounted for about a third of that day’s committals.
Nationally, drug arrests account for nearly a quarter of the most serious offenses of those incarcerated, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. That’s only slightly behind violent offenses.
It’s an occurrence that can be seen in Columbia County, where officials estimate that 20 percent of the inmates at the Appling jail -- which housed 239 inmates Tuesday -- were in on drug charges last year.
As of Tuesday, that figure was second only to those who fail to appear in court and probation/parole violators. And many of them, officials say, are dealing with a previous drug arrest.
Another burden is that those arrested for drug crimes tend to stay behind bars. Columbia County sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said traffic offenses might be more common, but they usually bond out quickly.
“They’re going to be in (jail) longer,” he said of those in on drug charges, adding that many times such inmates are repeat offenders.
In Richmond County, Maj. Johnson said drug arrests only add to jail overcrowding, particularly now that a previous option for overflow inmate housing has been nixed.
“The only problem we got now is the 50 beds we had at RCCI (Richmond County Correctional Institution) we don’t have anymore,” he said, adding that the overflow operation cost $750,000 a year and was cut in mid-December. “It makes it a little more cramped (at Phinizy and the Walton Way jail).”
He said that as of last week, he had 241 inmates sleeping on the floor. As of last Friday, there were 1,138 inmates housed at the Richmond County jail and Phinizy location. Last year, the average daily population was 1,068 -- 444 at the Richmond County jail and 624 at the Phinizy location.
Maj. Johnson said there’s also the problem of inmates in on drug charges having withdrawal symptoms while incarcerated and needing medical care, which adds to the housing cost.
“It’s cold turkey (from drugs in jail),” Maj. Johnson said. “Some of them, it’s pretty rough on them.”
This past year, narcotics cases actually declined in Richmond County by about 13 percent compared to 2007, for a total of 1,417 in 2008. Despite the decrease, Maj. Johnson says drug cases continue to fill cells, and he expects the poor job market to make things worse.
“With the way the economy is ... you’ve got people losing jobs ... You’re going to have more everything.”
In the meantime, Maj. Johnson said he’s waiting on relief that will come in about two years with the opening of two jail pods at Phinizy Road.
Copyright 2009 The Augusta Chronicle