Boone County Commission appoints retired judge to conduct a study on the Boone County Jail

During Tuesday’s Boone County Commission meeting, the commissioners appointed retired judge Gary Oxenhandler to conduct a study on the Boone County Jail.

The study will look into the historical and current status of the jail population.

Commissioner Janet Thompson spoke on behalf of the proposal.

Judge Oxenhandler will look into ways to better control the jail population and steer away from building a new jail.

This comes after there was a spike in the jail population and prices for housing prisoners in nearby county jails rose.

Judge Oxenhandler tells ABC 17 News the jail population has spiked and dropped enough over the past 15 years that no accurate conclusions can be drawn. He says, “Good planning dictates that we do a study at this time to see if we can see any kind of spiral going on that we need to take some action with regard to.”

Oxenhandler will donate his time and is expected to write a report on his findings within 120 days of starting the study.