HAGERSTOWN – Washington County’s Detention Center is practically bursting at the seams, housing an average of 350 inmates daily in a facility built for 300.
At a budget hearing earlier this year, Sheriff Brian Albert requested a nearly 4 percent budget increase for fiscal year 2025, driven largely by personnel costs, including funding for five new deputies to manage the overcrowded jail.
In his testimony, Sheriff Albert said Washington County ranks sixth statewide in jail population, averaging about 350 inmates daily at the 300-capacity jail. In response, Commission President John F. Barr commented “that bothers me a little bit” for Washington to be just behind Ann Arundel County, with four times the population of Washington.
Albert responded the County judicial system may be “a little more conservative” than other districts with a relatively strict pre-trial detention policy resulting in more inmates awaiting trial than other jurisdictions.
“Fewer releases on recognizance or robust pretrial programs could absolutely drive up those numbers,” Albert explained. He also cited the Justice Reinvestment Act of 2016, which shifted sentencing toward shorter local jail terms rather than state prison transfers, keeping the jail population high.
“It’s a mix of policy and philosophy,” he said, adding, “We hold people accountable for their actions.”
But this strict stance comes at a cost for inmates, their families and the county itself. Historically, Washington County’s approach to detention was more punitive than rehabilitative.
Since 2019, however, the county has pivoted toward addressing root causes like addiction. Victoria Sterling, the county’s behavioral health director, told the National Association of Counties that initiatives like the Jail Substance Abuse Program provide assessments, counseling and medications like Naltrexone to curb opioid dependency before release.
“We meet people where they are,” Sterling told the NCA, marking a departure from the “lock ‘em up” mentality of old. These efforts align with national trends toward rehabilitation and should, in theory, reduce jail populations.
So why is the facility still so full? The answer lies partly in the JRA’s mixed impact. While the statute has resulting in a reduction of prison populations by 3 percent and local jail populations by 4.6 percent since 2016 it still makes it tough for detainees even to be eligible to petition the court for prerelease.
Hagerstown defense attorney Brian Hutchison estimates that 75 percent of the county’s jail population is awaiting trial, not serving sentences. “We have fair success getting clients released pretrial, but the county isn’t using pretrial release effectively,” Hutchison said.
State laws restrict eligibility for programs like ankle-bracelet monitoring to county residents without prior criminal records, leaving many defendants ineligible.
“Legislative reform would let more people at least request the program,” he added. “Not every request would be granted, but they should have the chance to ask.”
The consequences of this bottleneck are profound. Pretrial detention can trap family breadwinners for months, unable to work or assist in their defense.
“Families are the collateral damage,” Hutchison said, adding that financial strain can push loved ones toward desperate measures. For the county, an overflowing jail strains budgets and overburdens law enforcement.
Washington County isn’t short on potential solutions, however. Robust outpatient programs, particularly for substance abuse, are widely available. Defendants who enter these programs pretrial, often paired with mental health counseling, also become stronger candidates for reduced sentences.
Judges traditionally prioritize two factors at bond hearings: Will the defendant show up for trial, and do they pose a danger to themselves or others? Many meet these criteria, yet state restrictions block their path to release.
But this year has brought momentum towards reform. A March 2025 report by Maryland’s Equitable Justice Collaborative, a partnership between the attorney general’s office, public defender’s office and community stakeholders, proposes 18 recommendations to tackle mass incarceration.
These include expanding pretrial release eligibility and alternatives to detention. The report highlights stark racial disparities (Black Marylanders are six times more likely to be incarcerated, and represent 71 percent of inmates but just 30 percent of the population) and offers evidence-based reforms across law enforcement including pretrial detention, sentencing, health services and reentry support.
As Washington County grapples with its jail population, these reforms could pave the way for a more fair, less crowded system.
