County Jail Population Drops 24 Percent In 2 Weeks To Control Coronavirus’ Spread

Click here for the latest coronavirus news, which the BDN has made free for the public. You can support this mission by purchasing a digital subscription. The inmate population at the state’s 15 county jails dropped by nearly a quarter in the last two full weeks of March, the result of collaborative efforts to dramatically reduce the number of defendants awaiting trial and control the spread of the coronavirus within jails’ cramped quarters. As of last Friday, March 27, county jails had 1,212 inmates, down from 1,595 two weeks earlier.