The New Jersey Department of Corrections conducted an inspection of the Morris County Correctional Facility on Thursday, June 25 and Friday, June 26.
The inspection revealed that the Correctional Facility remains in complete compliance with all regulations and requirements as set forth under New Jersey law as well as administrative code and practices.
According to a letter dated Tuesday, July 7 from Director Marcus Hicks of the NJ Department of Corrections Office of County Services “Sheriff Rochford and his staff are to be congratulated on this achievement and are to be commended for the efforts and preparation for this inspection. The hard work and dedication by the staff of your facility was evident.”
This came just after the American Correctional Association (ACA) gave the correctional facility a score of 98.6%, making this the twelfth year in a row the correctional facility was nationally accredited. The review was conducted by three out-of-state independent correctional professionals. This accreditation is one of prestige as only 160 jails of the over 3,000 in the United States have ever accomplished this feat. These two national accreditations finish up the three essential national assessments, earning the Morris County Sheriff’s Office the Triple Crown Award for the 11th year in a row. The Triple Crown Award’s distinction have only been earned by 36 of the 3,083 Sheriff’s Offices nationwide. This also comes on the heels of just having received reaccreditation from The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) with a perfect score of 100% for all essential standards and a 94% in the non-essential standards.
Sheriff Edward Rochford congratulates the men and women of the Morris County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Corrections for their continued outstanding work.
BY THE NUMBERS: THE MORRIS COUNTY JAIL (2014 stats)
Inmate capacity: 524 (452 males, 72 females)
Prisoners during June 2015 inspection: 264 (221 male, 43 female)
Average daily prisoner count for 12 month period: 300 (260 male, 40 female)
Highest one-day count during that same period: 355 (301 male, 54 female)
Average bookings per month: 283 (262 male, 21 female)
The largest number of inmates, 135 (119 male, 16 female), were awaiting trial.
The next-largest group, 56 (46 male, 10 female) were sentenced by the county.
The third-largest group, 45 (36 male, 9 female) were pre-sentenced.
The staff count was 202, according to the county.
In 2014, two staff members were assaulted by inmates. One incident involved inmates assaulting each other.
“Forced moves” — when inmates had to be relocated from their cells for disciplinary reasons– were reported 73 times in 2014.
Chemical agents were use 39 times by jail staff.
The emergency response team was used 39 times to respond to fights and emergencies.
Strip searches were conducted based on “reasonable suspicion” 1232 times, until the jail staff halted the practice in response to legal challenges elsewhere, according to Undersheriff William Schievella.
No escapes were attempted.
Some 93 grievances were reported; one was substantiated, involving food service.
There were 8 suicide attempts (5 hanging, 2 slashing, 1 “other”), but no deaths at the jail in 2014.
