Vol 9 (1) International Journal of Regional, Rural and Remote (RRR) Law and Policy 2021
Rick Ruddell, G. Larry Mays, William Sturgeon
ABSTRACT
There are about 1,500 U.S. jails with fewer than 100 beds, and many of these stand-alone facilities are in sparsely populated counties. As these rural jails are out-of-sight and out-of-mind, few correctional scholars are examining the operations of these places and these agencies are largely ignored unless a disaster, mistake, or act of misconduct is reported by the media. In this commentary we identify 20 challenges rural jail administrators and sheriffs are confronting. Many of these issues were identified a century ago and a key challenge for these jail administrators is to formulate solutions to these long-term entrenched problems to provide humane treatment for the people incarcerated in these places. We contend the solutions to these challenges are dependent upon increases in funding and reimagining or reforming existing arrangements in rural justice systems where counties are relying upon small, stand-alone facilities to hold pretrial and sentenced populations.
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