Lehigh County Courts and Corrections committee June 29 discussed jail updates and re-entry programs, and examined data collected by the Criminal Justice Advisory Board from 2021.

Moderated by Commissioner-at-Large Dave Harrington, commissioners Geoff Brace and Zach Cole-Borghi also attended.

Chief Public Defender Kimberly Makoul reported that under the re-entry programs, the ankle monitors option is going well, with 10 successful participants, and the jail is registering low numbers of COVID cases.

Harrington said U.S. Marshall contracts will soon need to be renegotiated. The federal government houses 80 to 90 inmates at a time, and the hope is for Lehigh County to receive at least $1.9 million to cover expenses over the next three years.

Harrington also explained recent drops of the inmate population is largely attributed to COVID-19 as well. Commitments have fallen from 5,938 in 2017 to 3,018 in 2021 for adults, and 159 to 65 for juveniles. He said case numbers in many facilities often led to the closure of admissions.

Lehigh County has been in discussions with detention centers in the eastern part of Pennsylvania to help when beds are needed.

Commissioners Harrington, Brace and Cole-Borghi agreed that for the foreseeable future, courts and corrections will continue to meet via Zoom, with the next meeting scheduled for Sept. 7.