{"id":7454,"date":"2025-03-27T06:57:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T06:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7454"},"modified":"2025-03-27T06:57:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T06:57:04","slug":"two-more-bureau-county-deputies-on-the-road-by-taking-inmate-transfers-sheriff-wants-to-boost-patrols-shaw-local-news-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/princetonillinois.com\/?p=7454","title":{"rendered":"Two more Bureau County deputies on the road? By taking inmate transfers, sheriff wants to boost patrols – Shaw Local News Network"},"content":{"rendered":"


He’s open for business \u2013 or at least he’d like to be. Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed, seen here Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, outside a vacant cell in Bureau County Jail, is urging skeptics to reconsider a plan to house inmate transfers from Cook County. With the resulting funds, Reed would like to add two more patrol officers to police the many underserved municipalities in Bureau County. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
If Bureau County<\/a> residents will accept inmate transfers from Cook County, Sheriff Jim Reed thinks he can put two more deputies on patrol.
\u201cThat would be enough for me to put two more deputies on the road.\u201d
With fingers crossed, Reed is waiting for the Bureau County Board to resume discussions about an intergovernmental agreement with Cook County. If the board agrees, Reed will sign a deal to house overflow inmates from Chicago in exchange for a per-diem rate of $65.
He’s open for business – or at least he’d like to be. Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed, seen here Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, outside a vacant cell in Bureau County Jail, is urging skeptics to reconsider a plan to house inmate transfers from Cook County. With the resulting funds, Reed would like to add two more patrol officers to police the many under-served municipalities in Bureau County. <\/span>(Scott Anderson)
In an interview Tuesday, Reed said the arrangement is nowhere as dangerous or unmanageable as has been portrayed on social media. Although the agreement contains language allowing for up to 50 transfers, the Bureau County Jail won\u2019t accept anywhere close to that figure.
\u201cWe have absolutely no intention of housing 50 inmates,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not jumping into the deep water here. We\u2019re talking three, four or five people \u2013 maybe up to 10.\u201d
An influx of 10, Reed said, would yield more than $237,000 a year. He would divert those funds to step up patrols in the many communities without full-time police forces.
\u201cThat would be enough for me to put two more deputies on the road,\u201d Reed said.
La Salle County<\/a> did just that. When the SAFE-T Act was enacted and immediately slashed the census at the La Salle County Jail, Sheriff Adam Diss imposed a hiring freeze and gradually transferred funds from corrections to patrol. As a result, six new hires<\/a> will be on La Salle County roads by year\u2019s end.
In the meantime, Reed is pushing back against \u201cmisinformation\u201d that has circulated online about the proposed agreement with Cook County.
Reed said Cook County inmates will not, after completing their time, be discharged into Princeton<\/a>. Instead, the agreement will be worded to ensure that Cook County collects its inmates and discharges them there.
Cook County inmates will not have in-person visits. Nobody has, for that matter.
\u201cAll our visitation is by video,\u201d said Becky Gosch, administrator of the jail since 2019. \u201cWe do have the option to come in and visit three times a week, but that, too, is through video for 15 minutes for free.\u201d
Bureau County won\u2019t be getting the worst of the worst, Gosch said. The agreement will include provisions for Bureau County to decline any transfer.
\u201cWe get to review their file,\u201d Gosch said. \u201cWe can review their disciplinary and medical records to make sure it\u2019s an inmate we can safely house.\u201d
She further noted that the county\u2019s goal is to primarily accept inmates in protective custody; that is, inmates who\u2019ve cut deals and agreed to testify against gangs and career criminals and cannot, for their safety, stay in the general population.
Bureau County corrections officers are certified and trained for problems \u2013 \u201cThey can handle anything that comes this way,\u201d Reed said \u2013 and it isn\u2019t as if the jail is full of local inmates. Half the current inmates are not Bureau County residents.
Gosch said she supports the initiative to house Cook County inmates because the SAFE-T Act ushered in a slew of financial complications for Bureau County.
The county negotiated a food service contract based on an average daily population of 25 and medical services for 27. Last year, however, the average headcount was 11. Cook County transfers would give taxpayers better value for their money.
Cook County also has to pay for their inmates\u2019 medical care, she said, leaving food as the chief expense for Bureau County.
\u201cThe average cost to feed an inmate is less than $15 a day,\u201d Gosch said, \u201cso the $65 per-diem rate makes the agreement profitable right off the bat.\u201d
Reed said county officials also need to think ahead. An underused facility will steadily decay, so Reed has ordered corrections officers to flush the toilets, run the taps, open the doors and throw the lights just to keep the jail in working order.
\u201cYou know what happens to a house if it sits empty, and it\u2019s the same situation here,\u201d he said. \u201cMy staff has to keep up with that.\u201d
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network
Copyright \u00a9 2023 Shaw Local News Network<\/p>\n

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He’s open for business \u2013 or at least he’d like to be. Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed, seen here Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, outside a vacant cell in Bureau County Jail, is urging skeptics to reconsider a plan to house inmate transfers from Cook County. With the resulting funds, Reed would like to add two more patrol officers to police<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t