La Crosse County jail sees high number of repeat offenders

Sending people to jail for breaking the law doesn’t seem to discourage many of them from coming back.

La Crosse County sees plenty of repeat inmates, according to Sheriff Jeff Wolf.

Reporting to the county judiciary committee, Wolf said men especially have a habit of going in and out of the jail, with 55 percent of the male inmates in 2018 having been there more than once during the year.

If you add women who are brought in, more than 5,600 separate bookings happened at the county jail last year.

The sheriff says the average nightly population at the jail has been around 200 prisoners for the last three years, with bail violations being a major reason for return bookings.

The sheriff told the committee that he received a letter from a prisoner complaining about the calorie content in jail meals.

Wolf said that man has been to the La Crosse jail 22 times in the last seven years but this is the first time he ever complained.