40 Inmates to be Released From the Josephine County Jail

40 inmates are scheduled to be released from the Josephine County Jail at 9:30 AM Wednesday morning.

This is according to an email sent out overnight from the Josephine County Sheriff’s office. The inmates are being released in order to meet the new low capacity of 60 total inmates.

Officials say the release was not made public until early this morning for safety reasons.

The release decisions are made by the Jail Commander or Sergeants and take various factors into consideration, including seriousness of the charges and mandates from the courts and District Attorney’s office.

The inmates who will be released have charges that include:

Rape in the third degree

Sodomy in the third degree

Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

Endangering Welfare of a Minor

Assault in the fourth degree

Menacing

Robbery in the third degree

Felon in Possession of a Firearm

Escape

Resisting Arrest

Parole, Probation and Post-Prison Violations

Drug possession, delivery and manufacture

Various property crimes

All of this comes after voters turned down a property tax levy to support public safety, on the May 15th Primary ballot.

The department faces a $7.5 million budget shortfall through 2013. This prompts nearly 125 layoffs, 20 of those from the jail staff.

Come June 1st, patrols will decrease from 20 hours, day 7 days a week to just 8 hours, 5 days a week. 18 patrol deputies will also be out of a job, among many other cuts.

NBC 5 will continue to follow this developing story.

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