Inmate Capacity

Inmate Population

The Webster County jail was constructed in1983 and has a rated maximum capacity of 56 inmates. Webster County has a daily average of 75 to 90 inmates in custody. On September 6, 2023, 45 inmates were housed in the jail, plus 40 inmates were outsourced to other detention facilities. Today, more than 1,000 people are waiting to serve their sentence. Costs to be billed to those with time to serve (at $100 per day) equate to $732,000.

 

Classification requirements of the Department of Corrections such as gender, juvenile, medical/mental health issues, misdemeanor/felony, etc. also contribute to maximum capacity meaning the jail could be partially full but considered 100% full due to classification rules. One example of how Webster County is impacted by this is they are currently housing inmates associated with gang affiliations for six homicides - they must be separated to meet classification requirements which is impacting cell/bed availability. In these situations, overflow inmates are transferred to another county at a daily cost to taxpayers.

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Classification Examples