Mackinac County Jail is serving as an example to jails across the country after being the first facility to receive certification under the American Correctional Association's (ACA) new Core Jail Standards adopted by the association's Standards Committee Friday, August 7.

The jail behind the county courthouse in St. Ignace was used as a field test site for these new standards, which have been under development for more than five years.

The association publishes 22 books of standards that address all facets of the corrections field including adult, juvenile, jails, prisons, probation, and day reporting. The former set of standards for jails was much too difficult for small jails to meet, Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait said. Of about 3,200 jails in the country, only 127 facilities were certified under these standards.

James Gondles, the association's executive director and former sheriff of Arlington County, Virginia, told the committee that these new core standards will "take America's jails forward." The standards were chosen and designed to identify what is absolutely necessary for every jail in the country.

Mr. Strait said one benefit of Mackinac County being accredited under the association is that the accomplishment can help to mitigate the risk of a lawsuit against the jail. If someone lodged in the jail argues that the sheriff's office doesn't comply with national rules, the certification can be a counter-argument for county officials, he said.

Previous sets of standards for jails consisted of 400 standards. Some of them, like requiring a fulltime jail psychiatrist, are just unreasonable for smaller facilities like Mackinac County to comply with, Sheriff Strait said.

The new core standards for jails approved by the ACA consist of 136 standards, 46 of them mandatory and 90 non-mandatory. After inspection by ACA auditors, the Mackinac County Jail passed all mandatory standards, except one considered not applicable, with 100% compliance, and passed 93% of the non-mandatory standards, with three considered not applicable.

During his testimony Friday in Nashville, Tennessee, Sheriff Strait said Jail Administrator Tim Ahlborn and the correction deputies put in long hours and played a big part in bringing the jail into compliance.

"Without Tim and the rest of the staff, I would not have attempted to achieve compliance," he said .

The core standards were first proposed when ACA's newest jail standards were adopted in 2002. Representatives from the American Jail Association and the National Sheriff's Association urged ACA to develop a set of comprehensive minimum standards.

The two organizations became central to developing the core standards, finalizing them in May in Washington, D.C. The National Institute of Corrections and the U.S. Department of Justice provided funding and technical assistance through the process.

Mackinac County was brought into the process by Rod Miller, who is implementing a U.P.-wide feasibility study and is exploring the re-use of closed state prisons by counties. Sheriff Strait said Mr. Miller has been telling sheriffs and commissioners around the state that Michigan's jail standards are inadequate and do not provide good liability protection.

"When he compared the new core jail standards to current Michigan standards, he found that more than 75% of the core standards are not addressed by Michigan standards," Sheriff Strait said.

After final drafting of the new ACA core standards, Mr. Miller, who had been involved with the development of the new standards, suggested Mackinac County for the field test before the ACA's full board meeting in August.

"It was a lot of work, but we needed to do it and we are a much better operation because of it," Sheriff Strait said.

An official audit took place at the county jail July 30 and July 31, with inspections done by David Hassenritter, who heads the U.S. Army's jail system, and Mark Flowers, ACA director of standards and accreditation.

The audit consisted of a tour, interviews with jail administrators, and examinations of written records outlining the office's compliance with each standard. Areas of compliance tested ranged from environmental conditions to food service to sanitation. Only six nonmandatory standards were found to not be in compliance.

These areas of non-compliance included a lack of space in a day room for offenders, no air quality tests (because the Sheriff couldn't find anyone in the area to do it), the lack of a female staff member working at all times, only two single cells for a facility that holds 28 people, only three recreation days each week, and no handicappedaccessible bathrooms. Since these standards are non-mandatory, the county still passed its accreditation with flying colors.

During a hearing Sunday, August 9, the five-member Commission on Accreditation praised the county for its good work and thanked it for providing the jail to test their new standards. The accreditation Mackinac County received will last three years.

Sheriff Strait said the response to him from more than 3,000 leaders in corrections at the annual convention was one of gratitude and congratulations.

"So many people came up and thanked Mackinac County for our efforts," he said. "It seemed to be the big topic of discussion at the conference."

The cost to have auditors come in to test a facility can range from $4,000 to $8,000, Sheriff Strait said, depending on the size of the facility.

Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority, which is the jail's insurance carrier, may provide funding to the county for the audit, and said it would promote the new standards to all Michigan counties.

Another potential benefit to accreditation the Sheriff's office is looking into is a possible reduction in insurance premiums.