By Jan Hefler
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Five South Jersey counties that have been exploring the creation of the state’s first regional jail system since fall recently ran into trouble amid confusion and misunderstandings over the amount each county would contribute to an $800,000 study.
One county dropped out sometime after the first consultant was hired.
Another county decided it would pay less than an equal share.
And the county that hired the consultant in January on behalf of the four other counties is now scrambling to cement its handshake with them by having them sign written agreements.
Taking the lead, Burlington County awarded a no-bid contract to the Vaughn Collaborative for the group, which then consisted of Gloucester, Camden, Atlantic, and Cumberland Counties, along with Burlington. According to documents obtained by The Inquirer, the study was to begin in January and a final report was to be delivered in October.
In an interview last week, Burlington County spokesman Eric Arpert said the county would pay Vaughn the full amount and then get reimbursed by its partner counties once the study is completed. Burlington has already paid several installments.
Asked why the agreements with the counties weren’t signed first, Arpert said: “That’s a matter of policy.” He said the lawyers, administrators, wardens, and financial officers of the five counties had been discussing the language that would go into the agreements.
Gloucester County had participated in “preliminary discussions as to the potential for such a study” but then “ultimately decided not to participate,” Arpert said on Wednesday.
The day before, Arpert had named Gloucester as one of the five participants. He said he did not know when Gloucester changed its mind.
But Gloucester spokeswoman Debra Sellitto said the county had “never financially committed to the study.”
Mercer County is joining the group, effectively replacing Gloucester, Arpert said. The agreement with Mercer, in central New Jersey, is being finalized.
The five counties are all expected to approve a shared-service agreement by June 1, Arpert said. Each will pay $160,000, except Atlantic, which will chip in $100,000 because it is interested in regionalization but not in an individual assessment of its jail facilities.
Originally, the study was designed to include an evaluation of each county’s facilities and needs, according to the proposal Vaughn submitted in November after discussions among the counties. Gloucester was named in that proposal, which also said each county was expected to pay $160,000.
Arpert said Burlington would ask Vaughn to perform a needs assessments for only four counties and to subtract $60,000 from the total contract amount.
The five counties currently have total capacity for about 3,800 inmates in their jails, according to data they provided. Last week, the jails had a total of about 3,710 inmates. County officials said the inmate population varies weekly.
In a home-rule state such as New Jersey, regionalization can be a difficult undertaking. Many studies commissioned to explore the feasibility of combining municipal police departments, township courts, and other government entities throughout the state have failed to produce any change.
But in recent years, state and local officials have pushed for consolidations as a way to save taxpayers money.
“Counties are really struggling to make ends meet . . .. And as costs escalate, you will see more counties looking to do things like that,” said John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties. He said that there was no regional jail in the state and that he was not aware of any other study underway that would establish one.
Instead, he held Gloucester up as an example of the first successful approach to regionalizing jails. Two years ago, it became the first county in the state to eliminate its jails by sending inmates to Burlington, Salem, Cumberland, and Essex Counties for a contracted price. “Gloucester saved $6 million to $7 million a year,” Donnadio said. “I think you’re going to see more and more of this model in the next five to 10 years,” he said, noting that host counties received a new source of revenue to fill their underused facilities.
Sellitto said that was the reason Gloucester did not join the regionalization study. “Why would we pay to be in the study? We already did our study and closed our jail,” she said.
Kevin Walker of the New Jersey Public Defender’s Office said his office was “wary of any effort at regionalization” because of the “terrible burden” it may place on inmates’ families who may have to travel an hour or more to visit. “Regionalization will restrict clients’ access to their lawyers and . . . their families,” he said. Many inmates in county jails are awaiting trial, he added.
Two years ago, the state Public Defender’s Office sued Gloucester to stop the jail closing. It argued that the traveling distance to other counties, including Essex, about two hours away, would make it difficult for lawyers to meet with their clients. A judge denied the motion.
In New Jersey, county jails hold a mix of inmates: detainees who have not made bail, inmates on trial, and inmates sentenced to less than a year. Those with longer sentences are confined in state prisons.
Arpert said the study was needed to determine “if there’s a more effective and efficient regionalized system” worth developing. “Costs are rising, and it behooves us all” to look into regionalization, he said.
Burlington County Freeholder Director Mary Ann O’Brien and Administrator Eve Cullinan did not return calls for comment.
The Vaughn Collaborative, an architectural and planning firm in Ewing, was selected by county officials based on its qualifications, Arpert said. Vaughn is bringing in Jay Farbstein & Associates Inc. a “nationally recognized correctional facilities planner” to help gather information and visit all the jails and to select a site for a possible regional jail, the agreement says.
Except for Cumberland County Administrator Ken Mecouch, none of the representatives of the other counties would say whether their counties were willing to host a regional facility, if chosen.
“We’re looking for advice on what direction we should be moving . . .. We probably would prefer to be a receiving facility,” Mecouch said. “The recommendation may be for two or three regional facilities to be built.”
Atlantic County Administrator Gerald DelRosso said the county was satisfied with its jail but joined the study because it may help officials “do the job a little better. There may be some better ideas, fresh ideas, on how to do it collectively.”
Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen said his county wanted a full evaluation because “our jail is an aging facility.” If the consolidation doesn’t work out, he said, the study will offer guidance in planning for the future. Mercer County Administrator Brian Hughes echoed that, saying part of its jail is 100 years old.
The study, he said, is to “look at all options.”