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Expanding scope of Albuquerque jail lawsuit might freeze overflow options, county officials say
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"If this lawsuit expands... the repercussions will be widespread, including the likelihood that no out-of-county detention center or other facility... will accept Bernalillo County inmates, even on a short-term basis."
Jeffrey Baker, county attorney
Bernalillo County would have a hard time finding a place to house its overflow inmates if a federal judge allows a 12-year-old crowding lawsuit to apply to its Downtown Jail, an attorney for the county says.
The McClendon lawsuit already applies to the county's Metropolitan Detention Center, located on the West Side. Its aim was to reduce crowding in the county lockup.
In documents filed on Aug. 9 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, the county says allowing the lawsuit to apply to the Regional Correctional Center at Fourth Street and Roma Avenue Northwest would scare operators of jails that could house county inmates when the West Side facility is full.
"If this lawsuit expands to the RCC, the repercussions will be widespread, including the likelihood that no out-of-county detention center or other facility (like the state Department of Corrections) will accept Bernalillo County inmates, even on a short-term basis," wrote county attorney Jeffrey Baker.
Attorneys for inmates in the lawsuit are seeking access to the Downtown lockup to monitor conditions for county prisoners lodged there — currently there are none. The lawsuit already allows attorney access to the West Side jail.
The attorneys contend the litigation should apply to the Downtown facility because it's a place Bernalillo County sends overflow inmates.
The jail is owned by the county, but run by Cornell Companies Inc.
In June, the county removed all its inmates and said it has no plans to return detainees to the facility. County lawyers say that's another reason the lawsuit shouldn't apply.
Bernalillo in the past has housed inmates in several other New Mexico counties. On Aug. 9, it had 60 detainees in Cibola County, said Bernalillo County Public Safety Director John Dantis.
Earlier this month, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement pulled all of its inmates, about 600, from the Downtown jail.
In the filing on Aug. 9, the county says ICE pulled its detainees "to avoid being enveloped in this lawsuit," Baker wrote.
ICE has denied the lawsuit played a role in its decision to transfer the detainees to other facilities. An agency spokeswoman said that at the time the jail didn't meet two of the immigration agency's standards during a recent review, though she couldn't say which two.
Fewer than 200 inmates remain at the Downtown Jail, all in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. A spokesman for the agency said recently it doesn't plan to remove its inmates.
But in the filing, the county suggests the marshals service could also move on.
"ICE was nimble enough to walk away, and no one should be surprised if the U.S. Marshall (sic) takes similar action, resulting in an empty building and no money" to pay the rent, Baker wrote.
Cornell pays the county $1.2 million a year, which covers the bond payment on a new Health Services Unit at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
A spokesman for the Marshals Service didn't return calls seeking comment in the evening on Aug. 9.
Cornell officials have said before they expect to bring the Downtown Jail population back up. Spokesman Charles Seigel said earlier this week the company is trying to meet the concerns of ICE about jail conditions in hopes of getting the inmates back.
While the Downtown Jail is nearly empty, the opposite is true for the detention center on the West Side.
On Aug. 9, the jail held almost 2,700 inmates, well over its 2,239-person capacity.
Still, the county says it can control the population and doesn't need to put inmates back into the Downtown jail.
Also, the county on Aug. 13 is set to break ground on an 80-bed facility that will include transitional housing, and serve as a place for drug and alcohol counseling and treatment.
