A new work group might come up with creative alternatives to jail time for some local inmates, Orange County Commissioner Barry Jacobs suggested Tuesday.

The county commissioners will discuss forming a group, similar to the recent Orange County Emergency Services Work Group,  at a future meeting.

The work group should “harness the energies and creativity" of judges, the district attorney, public defenders and other criminal justice officials, Jacobs said.

The Council of State also agreed Tuesday to let the county lease seven to eight acres at $1 for 50 years at the state's Orange Correctional Center on Old N.C. 86.

The county plans to build a 250-bed jail for roughly $30 million to replace the existing jail, built across from the downtown courthouse in 1925.

The current jail holds 129 inmates and does not have designated space for female inmates. Jail officials said it has age-related plumbing and maintenance issues.

Chief District Court Judge Joe Buckner told the commissioners in September that a new jail could help local courts function more efficiently, while giving court officials and inmates a place to meet and talk about cases and plea bargains. It also would relieve years of overcrowding.

Alternative sentencing options could include home detention, special services for homeless repeat offenders, and increased use of the county’s drug and community resource courts, Jacobs said.

In an interview published in Wednesday's Chapel Hill News, Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass, seeking re-election to his eighth term, addressed the issue of jail overcrowding by saying the county has money set aside to add 20 beds for women.

That's true. It's in the county's Capital Improvement Plan. But Pam Jones, who oversees facilities planning for the county, said the county won't be moving forward with that project until the economy improves, and no plans have been submitted to the Town of Hillsborough's regulatory boards for review. The state Department of Health and Human Services' most recent inspection found the jail over capacity by 17 inmates, and that is not likely to change much in the next couple of years. The inspector also found 69 out of 146 inmates were federal prisoners being held as a contract service.

The sheriff's Democratic challenger Clarence Birkhead, former Hillsborough Police Chief, has said the jail sometimes had to turn away suspects in minor offenses because there wasn't room in the jail. He also says the sheriff needs to renegotiate its federal contract, currently providing 75 beds in the 129-bed jail, to better serve Orange County's needs.

Running the county jail is an expensive proposition: $2.6 million a year in inmate medical costs alone, the Durham County commissioners heard this morning.

Correct Care Solutions, LLC, the company that looks after guests in the big white building by the railroad tracks, was making a pitch for more money at the commissioners' work session. The company's presentation brought out some interesting points, like:

• Pharmaceuticals alone cost about $192,000 a year;
• A few patients can skew the curve, thanks to the high cost of, say, HIV drugs;
• One inmate spent nine months in county custody at an average cost of $77,000 per month;
• Some inmates have better odds of getting well in jail than out of it.

At least, that last was the opinion of a judge, according to Correct Care, who told a prisoner to stay in jail until his treatment was finished.

"That's nice, isn't it?" said commissioner Becky Heron.

County Manager Mike Ruffin pointed out that some inmates have resided on the taxpayers' nickel for more than five years. That's due, among other things, to legal maneuvering, judicial delay and high bail.

Even reducing bail doesn't always help, said county health director Gayle Harris: some inmates have opted to stay in jail instead of posting bond and leaving.

Heron responded; "We're running the downtown Hilton here, is that it?"