DANVILLE (WSLS 10) - As of Monday, there were about 32 inmates at the Danville City Jail who had already been sentenced and should be moved to another facility.
Because the state prisons are, for the most part, full, those inmates have to stay at the jail.
Even if those inmates were moved, that still wouldn't solve the jail's overcrowding issue.
As of Monday, the jail had 252 total inmates but was only built to hold 213. So taking away the 32 inmates would still leave the jail with seven more than it was built to hold.
Sheriff Mike Mondul said another factor leading to the overcrowding is that many of the state prisons are at capacity, therefore local jails have to house any inmate who is serving a sentence of two years or less.
Ideally, an inmate would be in the jail until he or she is sentenced and would then be moved.
"We've been a lot worse off than we are right now," Mondul said. "It'd be nice to get closer to rated capacity, but again, it's part of our job. It is what it is and it's part of what we do."
He emphasized that the jail has the resources to keep both the public and the inmates safe despite the overcrowding.
"We come prepared for worst-case scenario in this profession and a testament to that is last quarter last year our jail received a 100 percent life health safety audit," he pointed out. "So, I think that's a testament to how good and professional our people are here in the city jail."
Mondul said that there is no way to know if and when the roughly 32 inmates may be moved.