SOUTH JERSEY

Judge: Camden County must address turnover at jail

Jim Walsh
@jimwalsh_cp

A federal judge wants Camden County officials to explain high turnover in a key post at the county's overcrowded jail.

Writing to attorneys in a lawsuit over jail conditions, U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle noted the corrections facility has run through five population managers in a four-year period and the post has been empty since November.

The population manager works to reduce the number of inmates in a jail.

Simandle's Jan. 26 letter said he was "very concerned" over the county's failure to retain a full-time population manager "and I am requesting a special report from Camden County addressing these concerns."

County officials must respond to his request within 10 days, Simandle said.

The issue has derailed, at least temporarily, an effort to settle a 10-year-old class-action lawsuit over conditions at the jail.

A lawyer for the jail's inmates, Nicole Acchione of Cherry Hill, had submitted a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement, but she asked to withdraw it after learning the post was vacant. Simandle granted that request.

In a Jan. 26 letter to the judge, Acchione said she'd ask Simandle to impose population caps on the jail and to find the county in contempt if the manager's position remained vacant.

"Once an interim or full-time jail manager is hired by the county, the parties will reassess whether final settlement is appropriate," Acchione said.

County spokesman Dan Keashen said a consulting firm, Luminosity, would provide an interim manager early next month "while we look for a permanent jail population manager."

"This position is extremely unique," Keashen said. "They are few and far between, and they're needed all over the country."

The county has been working with Florida-based Luminosity to improve conditions at the seven-story lockup, where overcrowding has many inmates sleeping on the floors.

According to Simandle's letter, the jail's population was 1,376 on Dec. 18, above its official capacity of 1,267 inmates.

The jail's population was above 1,800 in 2009, but fell to 1,210 a year later in response to the class-action suit. The number of inmates then rose again because more police are on the streets of Camden and its suburbs, boosting arrests across the county.

In his letter, Simandle noted the jail has had "a succession of short appointees" in the population manager's position, including two interim managers and a part-timer.

One permanent manager served from June 2012 until April 2013; another worked from November 2013 to November 2014.

"The court is concerned for the lack of stability and experience in the jail population manager position that is essential for success," Simandle wrote.

Reach Jim Walsh at jwalsh@courierpost online.com or (856) 486-2646. Follow him on Twitter @jimwalsh_cp