Sheriff may make push to take over MDC

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Bernalillo County's jail has been plagued by scandals and overcrowding, but someone--the sheriff--thinks he has what it takes to fix the problem.

In fact his staff is traveling nearly 800 miles to get tips on how to run the Metropolitan Detention Center, which is a constant concern.

“It's $70 million," County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins aid.  "It's a very significant portion of our budget.  It's more than half."

Currently the five county commissioners and the new jail boss appointed last year work together to run the facility, but soon that may change.

Commissioner Wayne Johnson said it makes sense for Sheriff Dan Houston to take it over.

“It's a law-enforcement function, so why doesn't it make sense that a law-enforcement official is operating the jail?” said Johnson.

Houston told News 13 over the phone that he isn't very excited about taking over the lockup but thinks his leadership would improve conditions. One of the ideas is to have deputies work inside MDC before they hit the streets.

The sheriff said this may cut down on how many people get booked inside the jail. That's because Johnson said it would show deputies they need to think twice about making some arrests.

“So if you are in the jail every day you see people that need to be there because they are harmful to society, but you also see people who were brought in that really don't need to be there,” said Johnson.

Hart Stebbins said she would need convincing.

“He would have to show some evidence that this is a better way to do it and this is how we would reduce the jail population," she said.

She said she's open to ideas, which is something the undersheriff, two chief deputies and Johnson said they will be gathering during their visit to the Los Angeles jail and sheriff's department next week. The trip to L.A. is being paid for with taxpayer money.

The sheriff said he has no timeline on when he would make a formal proposal to take control of the jail. The County Commission would have to vote on it.