An ad-hoc committee, formed to deal with overcrowding in the DeKalb County Jail, has decided to hear presentations from potential consulting firms who will address the problem.

According to an Oct. 24 request for a proposal by DeKalb County, during the next meeting on Dec. 11, the committee will interview three or four potential consultants.

“Our first decision was to hire a consultant,” said Sue Leifheit, DeKalb County board member and chairwoman of the ad-hoc committee.

She said DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott brought the problem to the public service committee.

The proposal stated that there are a number of qualifications the ad-hoc committee is using in its screening process.

The qualifications include a list of successful projects from the most recent three-year period and having a time line for the first and second phase of the project.

“There is a thought that the only option is to expand the current facility. There are other options,” Leifheit said.

Scott said this year, up to September, the jail has had an average of 85 inmates a day.

Lt. Joyce Klein, DeKalb County Jail supervisor, said in 2000 and 2001, the average was 77 inmates when capacity is 89. The functional capacity, the number of inmates the jail can support before causing problems, is 80 percent of capacity. For the DeKalb County Jail, that means 72 inmates, Klein said.

“We’re running over that,” Klein said.

Both Scott and Klein agreed certain restrictions associated with the inmates contribute to problems with overcrowding.

Scott said members of rival gangs can’t be held together as well as inmates of different sexes.

“It limits your functional capacity,” Scott said.

In an effort to find solutions, the ad hoc committee was formed in October to study the problems.

“Up to that point, we just had a jail population committee,” Klein said.

She explained that the jail population committee would look at all the ideas and ways to help jail accommodations.

“We requested two studies [in 1990 and 1996] by the National Institute of Corrections,” Klein said.

From these studies, Klein recalled recommendations were formed, and the jail population committee wanted to see these recommendations were implemented.

She added that the ad hoc committee is “a step to more formality” as compared to the jail population committee.