Major Michael Merican, right, speaks to members of the Maryland Department of Legislative Services at the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
Rather than sitting in jail awaiting a day in court, a qualified offender has the opportunity to obtain medical or addiction services and can still work to provide for their family through the Pretrial Services offered at the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
Following a visit by criminal justice officials from Armenia last week, representatives of the Maryland Department of Legislative Services visited the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018, to learn more about Pretrial Services.
In 2014, 11 counties in Maryland had a formalized pretrial system. After St. Mary’s County implemented its program, Kent County initiated the model and now five other counties are in transition to offering some form of Pretrial Services.
The program started in St. Mary’s County in November 2015.
Incarcerating an inmate locally costs $150 a day, Major Michael Merican told the group. In Pretrial Services, the cost per offender is $34.68 per person.
With a capacity of 230 inmates, the St. Mary’s County jail costs about $10 million a year to run, mainly in personnel costs, Merican said.
Pretrial Services come with no cost to the offender and participants have the opportunity to get the health services they need and keep their employment to support their families.
“Some of these people absolutely need help,” Merican said.
Many of the jail’s inmates suffer from mental illness and addiction.
Bipolar Disorder is “the one we see the most,” Kristi Larson, Detention and Rehabilitation Center Mental Health Coordinator, said, while other inmates suffer from schizophrenia, depression or anxiety.
Inmates typically are self-medicating with substances and they are not getting proper treatment outside of the detention center, Larson said.
“If you’re not working with your mental health inmates, you’re not working your jail,” Merican told the state officials.
By default, the detention center is acting as the largest mental health facility in St. Mary’s County, Merican said.
Across the country, jails house or detain more drug addicts and mentally ill than the common criminal in local jails.
In St. Mary’s County, there are usually about 50 offenders under Pretrial Services, under various forms of supervision, including mandatory drug screening, meetings with case managers, wearing electronic monitoring units or under house arrest.
In 2016, the compliance rate in the program was 77 percent and so far in 2018 the compliance rate still holds at 77 percent.
The group from the Maryland Department of Legislative Services also visited the St. Mary’s County Drug Court on Tuesday.
Major Michael Merican, right, speaks to members of the Maryland Department of Legislative Services at the St. Mary’s County Detention and Rehabilitation Center.
