The Case Against a Eugene Municipal Jail: A Closer Look at Present Local Jail Use

 

No Eugene City Jail

Discuss meaningful changes in the justice system before discussing a municipal jail

By Michael Weber

The conversation around the need for a new municipal jail in Eugene has been gaining traction in local Facebook groups like Lane County Mugshots Uncensored. As the discussion grows, I find myself questioning whether we really need additional jail space when the existing facilities in the area are nowhere near full capacity.

As of mid-January, the Springfield Municipal Jail is holding just 54 inmates, out of a possible 98. Meanwhile, the Lane County Jail currently houses 277 inmates, with a capacity for 507.  These figures raise a simple question: Why are we even discussing building a Eugene municipal jail when the county jail we already have is underutilized?

Some clarification is needed here on the Lane County Jail's bed capacity. Claims have recently surfaced stating that the facility is now a 411-bed jail. However, that assertion is misleading.

The Lane County Jail remains a 507-bed facility. The confusion stems from the closure of a 96-bed dorm due to staffing and/or funding challenges. But, as it stands, that dorm is not gone, and its use has not been permanently changed. The space, originally designed to house inmates, can still be returned to its intended purpose, provided the necessary funding and staffing are in place.

To put it simply, this is not a case of the jail shrinking or being demolished. Just as a three-bedroom house doesn’t stop being a three-bedroom house because one room is used as an office, the Lane County Jail remains a 507-bed facility, regardless of how one dorm is currently being used.

In short, the current use of the dorm does not permanently alter the jail’s bed capacity. The 507-bed capacity stands—it's simply a matter of whether that capacity can be fully utilized when resources allow.

There’s more to this issue than just capacity numbers. A significant number more of the empty beds in Lane County Jail could be rented to the Eugene Police Department or used for county inmates, but there has been no taxpayer funding allocated to cover the costs of those beds. If we're not even making use of the available space for county or Eugene municipal inmates, why should we commit to building a municipal facility for Eugene that we can’t afford to operate?

It’s also important to consider that a Eugene municipal jail would likely only house inmates facing municipal court charges, which, much like the Springfield Jail, excludes felons and those facing serious charges in Lane County Circuit Court. Those individuals would still be sent to the larger Lane County Jail. So, we’re left with the question: What exactly would we be gaining with a Eugene municipal jail? It seems to me that we should be looking more critically at how we approach sentencing guidelines, pre-trial detention policies, and how long individuals can be held before trial. 

Perhaps it's time to evaluate sentencing guidelines to see if we, as a society, feel convicted individuals should serve longer sentences. If we believe suspects are being arrested only to be quickly released before their trial, maybe it’s time to consider stricter pre-trial release laws, particularly for repeat offenders or those who fail to appear in court as required. We could be making meaningful changes in how the justice system handles these cases, instead of just expanding our jail system.

In my opinion, there is no urgent need for a municipal 

jail in Eugene, at least not until we can make
full use of the beds we already have in the Lane County Jail. Why invest in new infrastructure when we can’t even afford to fill the empty beds that are already available?

Until taxpayers are willing to fund the use of the beds that remain unused, and until the county and the city can sit down and figure out a better agreement for the city of Eugene's use of county beds, I don’t see why we should prioritize building a Eugene municipal jail space. Instead, let’s have a broader conversation about how we approach the justice system and whether changes need to be made to ensure fairness and accountability across the board. 

The debate over jail space is far from over online, but at this point, it seems clear to me that our resources would be better spent on reforming how we handle sentencing, pre-trial release, and overall criminal justice policy, rather than building a Eugene municipal jail we don't yet need.

Michael Weber, known for his extensive coverage of crime news in Lane County, continues to provide valuable updates to the local community. He runs the largest crime watch group in Lane County, Lane County Mugshots Uncensored, which currently has over 84,400 members. Support for local journalism is essential, and donations can be made via Venmo to @Michael-Weber-379 (last four digits of phone number: 0825).

Information and picture credits: Jail inmate numbers from the official Lane and Springfield jail websites. Jail capacity numbers from Lane County and Springfield websites. Feature picture and outside Lane County Jail picture courtesy of Lane County official website. Springfield Municipal Jail picture courtesy of the City of Springfield website.