HILLSDALE — The Hillsdale County Jail, located at 165 W. Fayette St., passed its latest inspection and has been deemed 100 percent compliant based on administrative rules for jails and lockups.

The Michigan Department of Corrections County Jail Services Unit conducted an inspection Jan. 30 where the jail’s rules and procedures on 37 administrative protocols were assessed.

Sheriff Scott Hodshire reported the state reviews things such as firearms training, medical care provided to inmates, fire safety initiatives, evacuation plans, dietary allowances, food service inspections, water supply and pest control to name a few.

The jail, built in the 1960s to replace a dilapidated and small facility once located next to the historic Hillsdale County Courthouse in downtown Hillsdale, is capable of housing 67 inmates at a time.

For years now, the facility has struggled with overcrowding and an assessment performed over two decades ago recommended expanding the facility.

However, with limited funds, the Hillsdale County Board of Commissioners shelved the assessment.

In recent years judges in Hillsdale County have worked with law enforcement and the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office to establish a number of social programs aimed at rehabilitation without incarceration for those who qualify in order to reduce the jail’s capacity and avoid overcrowding.

More: Jail overcrowding remains the norm with no sign of relief

Just this year, Hillsdale County launched its Community Corrections Program which aims to assess those charged with crimes to help arranging judges or magistrates determine bond and provide pretrial services to those charged, but not yet convicted of crimes.

In the program’s first week, a number of defendants charged with serious crimes were assessed and deemed low-risk before being released on personal recognizance bonds with stipulations to comply with the Community Corrections Program.

Historically, when the jail’s population is over capacity, the judges will work with the sheriff’s office to either release inmates serving jail sentences early or reduce others’ bonds to bring the population down 10 percent.

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Commissioner Brad Benzing, the county’s Public Safety and Judiciary chair, recently said the county has no intentions of addressing the need for an expanded or new facility as the scope of work was not in the financial realms of the county.

Hillsdale County has embarked on a multi-million dollar project in recent years to revitalize and rehabilitate its historic courthouse and the county is still trying to figure out how to pay for an addition to the structure or the construction of a new courthouse facility.

Hillsdale County Sheriff Scott Hodshire has said that while the county could hypothetically house inmates in surrounding counties, it would cost the taxpayers $35 per day per inmate which is not feasible long-term.

— Contact Reporter Corey Murray at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Jail ‘100 percent compliant’ with latest state inspection