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SALT LAKE CITY — Ninety Utahns jailed for low-level offenses — most of them women — were set to be released from the Salt Lake County Jail Friday as coronavirus concerns have all but shut down Utah’s court system.
Third District Judge Todd Shaughnessy approved the release of the group in a series of Friday court orders.
Public defenders in the county worked with prosecutors to identify good candidates for release — a move to head off overcrowding in the jail and help prevent defendants from getting sick if the virus were to make its way there, said Richard Mauro, executive director of the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association.
“This is kind of an important exercise in many ways. Many shouldn’t be in jail pre-trial or awaiting sentencing,” Mauro said, because they aren’t violent and pose little risk of reoffending. “They’re probably appropriate for release anyway.”
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said the change will help make sure there’s room for violent offenders in the jail. He emphasized that each has a court date, with most now in May or June.
“By releasing these individuals, our goal is to free up a few hundred beds,” he said.
Most in the group of 90 are accused or convicted of low-level crimes like theft or drug possession, according to Mauro and Gill. Some were booked into the jail on a warrant for missing a court date, while others were picked up over probation violations like missing a curfew or a scheduled check-in with a probation officer.
Many would have appeared in court in coming days if not for the pandemic. On Thursday, 3rd District Presiding Judge Mark Kouris called off hearings in criminal cases through April 3, although he said court proceedings will start to move online beginning March 27.
Mauro said he isn’t worried just yet about the virus infringing on a person’s right to a speedy trial, although such concerns may develop in the future.
Such mass releases have become common around the country in recent weeks as states cope with fallout from COVID-19.
The group approved for release Friday was each represented by a public defender in Mauro’s office, so the number does not include others who hired private attorneys on their own and may have been granted release.
Michael Misner, an attorney in the legal defender’s office, said some of his clients currently in the jail have expressed fear about the virus making its way into the facility. A few have declined to meet with him even amid new developments in their cases because they fear Misner may unwittingly bring the virus inside, he said.
As of Friday, there were no confirmed cases in the jail, according to Carrie Fisher, spokeswoman for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office .
Two inmates who showed symptoms were placed in quarantine for a time and were tested for the disease, but the results came back negative, Fisher said.
The jail is using an infrared thermometer to test a person’s temperature without any contact, and the jail is cleaned several times each day, she said. The jail has joined others across the country in temporarily suspending nonlawyer visits.
