Don't be afraid: Feds issue Nacogdoches Jail crowding recommendations

The USDOJ consultants giving advice on Nacogdoches County Jail overcrowding have produced their report (pdf) which looks excellent (and not just because Grits is mentioned in the footnotes). More detail after I get a chance to read it thoroughly, but offhand this conclusion jumped out at me:

The system is becoming more risk averse. The interviews and the data analyses show that the system is becoming more risk averse.

For example, the interviews reveal that the number of personal recognizance bonds has declined noticeably. The consultants were told that two of the four Justices of the Peace rarely issue a PR bond.

As another example, we learned that, as of September 1, 2007, HB2391 gave local law enforcement discretion to issue citations to persons who have been arrested on low level non-violent misdemeanor matters. Ordinarily these people would be transported to the jail. Now they can simply receive a summons to appear in court. The City of Nacogdoches has begun to use the summons procedure. The Sheriff’s Office has not.

I love the use of the bureaucratese, "risk averse" ... you can tell the consultants are from out of state, can't you? In East Texas the word for that is "skeered."