A nearly two-hour long special meeting on alleviating overcrowding in Sarasota County jails ended with no concrete plans to change any current jailing or punishment methods.
Despite the number of arrests being down, the average stay in jail has increased over the past decade.
Twelfth Circuit Public Defender Larry Eger told the county commission and other elected leaders that high bonds or bonds for minor infractions are the biggest problems.
He said people getting arrested for nonviolent, otherwise minor offenses are being held for weeks on end until their court dates because of what he called ‘excessive’ bond amounts.