Sheriff petitions against jail construction moratorium

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The Dukes County Jail is housed at the Dukes County Sheriff's Office. —Eunki Seonwoo

Dukes County Sheriff Robert Ogden urged state lawmakers to reject a five-year moratorium on prison and jail construction and expansion in Massachusetts during a hearing on Tuesday, July 25. 

The Joint Committee on the Judiciary is considering H. 1795, “An Act establishing a jail and prison construction moratorium,” that would temporarily prohibit state or public agencies from studying, planning, designing, acquiring, leasing, searching for sites, or constructing new correctional facilities or detention centers. 

The bill would also ban the expansion of existing correction facilities, detention centers, and their bed capacity. 

Ogden said he strongly opposed the bill, which would “directly obstruct” the efforts to improve the 150-year-old Dukes County Jail and House of Correction, which is located at the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office. 

“Our agency serves approximately 20,000 year-round and over 200,000 summer residents in an isolated geographic location accessible only by air and water,” Ogden said during the hearing. “We are obligated by law to provide the only regional jail and lockup for eight law enforcement agencies and the trial court. The facility we operate in has deteriorated to the point of [needing] a major improvement or replacement, and quite frankly, is an obligation of the commonwealth to maintain.”

Upgrading the Dukes County Jail was one of the key issues Ogden ran on during his re-election campaign for sheriff. Built in 1873, the old facility has seen modernization over the years, but is in need of further improvements. During the hearing, Ogden underscored efforts with and funding from the state to improve the facility. One of these efforts included $7.9 million from Gov. Maura Healy’s capital improvement plan for fiscal year 2024 through 2028, for Dukes County’s modular holding facility. “H. 1795 would expressly interfere with these efforts,” Ogden said. 

When committee chair James Eldridge, D-Acton, asked whether the facility had seen a need for more cells, Ogden said the goal was to decrease the number of cells to 15. There are currently 20 cells, with a capacity for 40 individuals awaiting trial or serving sentences up to 2½ years. 

“You have to understand the house of correction, unlike the other sheriffs in the commonwealth, is not our primary need on Martha’s Vineyard,” Ogden said. “It’s the jail and lockup.” 

The Dukes County Jail hosted a daily population of 17 to 22 detainees from 2013 until the COVID pandemic hit. This dropped to a total of 10 in 2020 and nine in 2021. 

“Normally during the year, we might have 11 individuals in our custody from the house of correction, but we do 900 to a thousand arrests per year on the Island,” Ogden said during the hearing, pointing out the great population swell during the tourist season. 

Ogden also mentioned other concerns, like a lack of adequate fire suppression in the facility and 1873-era lockup mechanisms still being used. 

“Our facility is falling down around us,” he said. 

During the hearing, incarcerated inmates also testified on the bills being discussed, some of whom expressed support for the moratorium. Some inmates and prison reform advocates say that funding should go to reforming prison services rather than expanding state prisons.

The Senate version of the bill, S. 1979, is being reviewed by the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. The committee held a hearing last month. 

According to State House News Service, a prison and jail construction moratorium was approved by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate last year, but it was vetoed by former Gov. Charlie Baker from a larger bill. However, current Gov. Maura Healey has “broadly signaled” support for stopping new correctional facility construction if the action does not “halt efforts to maintain safe and modern facilities.”

When reached for further comment on Wednesday afternoon, Ogden said while the capital improvement plan acts as an agreement to provide $7.9 million for the jail, a moratorium could end up negating the funding. 

Although Healey did signal favor for the bill, Ogden pointed out that her support was based on the moratorium not negatively impacting facilities, a sentiment he heard from the governor during her visit to the Vineyard last month. “I think there’s room there,” he said. 

Ogden said the state legislature has historically been “apathetic” about smaller and rural districts like Dukes County. He pointed out that while the bill may make sense for districts with much larger budgets, it would be detrimental to the Island community. Additionally, Ogden underscored the plans to reduce the Dukes County Jail’s capacity, and not exceed its original footprint. 

Ogden emphasized that the Dukes County facility’s services were a needed and beneficial part of law enforcement and the court system on the Island.