Saturday, October 18, 2008

Inmates could get 'second Chance'

County contemplates sending prisoners to Albuquerque facility

Gerald Garner Jr. El Defensor Chieftain Editor, ggarner@dchieftain.com

Jermaine McChriston might just get the "Second Chance" he is hoping for.

McChriston, a graduate and representative of the Albuquerque-based Second Chance drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, returned to the Socorro County Commission on Tuesday, Oct. 14, to offer a revamped contract to house and rehabilitate certain Socorro County prisoners.

His presence was required after Socorro County opted to stop sending inmates to the facility. County officials say the amount budgeted in the detention center line item — $20,000 — was quickly depleted.

McChriston said his organization had revamped its contract for the county, knocking down the daily rate it charged from $65 to $50.

"We're prepared to offer you unlimited beds at $50 a day," McChriston said. "That includes all medical costs like prescriptions and trips to the hospital."

McChriston said it "hurt his feelings" to have to turn clients away because the contract's maximum cap had been reached.

"We want to ensure we don't have to turn anyone else away," McChriston said. "We'll do whatever we can to ensure that doesn't happen again."

County brass said that while they support the concept of the program, the funds just aren't there to send inmates to Second Chance.

"The threshold for our contract with Second Chance was $20,000 and we reached that very quickly," County Manager Matejka Ray said.

Commissioners said that an early-summer renovation at the jail, which required all inmates to be shipped out to other facilities, was the primary reason for the depletion of funds.

"We overspent when we had to send our prisoners to McKinley (County)," Commissioner Phillip Anaya said.

Commission Chairman Jay Santillanes reported that, as of last week, the county had expended $157,000 on out-of-town housing for prisoners — $72,000 more than was budgeted in the current fiscal year.

Local attorney Lee Deschamps — many of whose clients were sent to the Second Chance facility — said violence problems, and a lack of treatment options for drug addicts and alcoholics at other prisons should prompt the county to give the rehab-specific program another shot.

"There are big issues with the McKinley County facility; just recently a Sierra County inmate had his face fractured in three places," he said. "All three district judges are appalled that people are being sent to McKinley instead of Second Chance. There is no treatment at places like McKinley."

Deschamps implored the commission to "do something about the serious problem of drug addiction in Socorro County."

The attorney noted that the Sierra County Commission recently passed a measure that sees all of its inmates sent to Second Chance.

After continued discussion on the matter that paved the way for renegotiating the contract with Second Chance, County Attorney Adren Nance said a new contract would have to be drafted as the original included the $20,000 cap.

Santillanes said the issue would be presented to the commission at its next meeting.

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