Sedgwick County jail inmate population at 20-year low

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The number of inmates in the Sedgwick County jail is at a 20-year low.

The jail can house 1,407 people. As of Friday, July 5th, the average daily population was 1,092 inmates. The sheriff and district attorney say there are several reasons why.

For the first time in his 12 years as sheriff, Jeff Easter says they aren’t sending inmates to other county jails because of overcrowding.

“We would have to ship prisoners out of county, have a contract with them and pay them per day, per inmate, which was very expensive,” Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter said.

That cost is up to $65 per inmate per day. Now they have empty beds.

“If crime is down, then you should have less inmates, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Easter said.

Wichita Police Department statistics through the first four months of the year show Part 1 violent crimes, like homicides, rape and aggravated assault, are down 4% compared to the city’s 5-year average. That includes a 17% drop in homicides.

Similar crimes in the county are down 37% from the first six months of 2022 to this year: 155 in 2022 from January to June and 97 in 2024 from January to June.

But Easter says that’s only one reason jail numbers are down.

“The biggest reason, in my opinion, on why we’re seeing the numbers go down is the courts are back open,” Easter said.

District Attorney Marc Bennett says the court system has caught up on its Covid-19 backlog.

“We ballooned to 124 or 126 people in custody in Sedgwick County jail who were in on homicide charges at one time,” District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District Court Marc Bennett said.

The catchup is not by chance. Bennett asked the bar association to find more lawyers willing to take up murder cases when the defendant can’t pay.

“We’re getting them resolved and either pled or tried within six to eight months of the event, which is, while it may seem like a long time, it is a breakneck speed for homicides, Bennett said.

Bennett also revived a system they used more than a decade ago called the resolution docket. It targets people charged with low-level, non-violent property or drug crimes, giving them an opportunity to quickly resolve the case.

“So we afford them that moment in a single courtroom where they’re not waiting on other things, they’re not in line behind murders and rapes,” Bennett said.

Bennett says in 2023, about 700 cases went through the resolution docket, more than 500 were resolved.

“Pay your restitution and get into drug treatment. Get that done, fine, good luck,” Bennett said.

Bennett believes quicker case resolutions help people avoid reoffending. The district court is also considering new procedures for first-time probation violators to try to handle their cases more quickly.

Here is a closer look at those statistics:

WPD cases account for the majority of the jail inmates. For violent crimes, rapes are down 33%, robberies are down 15 compared to the 5-year average.

Aggravated assaults are up 2%. Auto thefts are up by 6%.

And weapons violations-including criminal discharge and possession by a felon or juvenile-are up by 25%.

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