Efforts underway to free up space in Wake County Detention Center

Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman and Senior Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway have implemented a jail review hearing to fast track some inmates out of the jail. It does not include inmates charged with murder.

Currently, the jail is at 95% capacity and housing at least 1,500 inmates.

“We want to make sure we are aggressive and moving people through when they don’t need to be in custody,” Freeman said.

Several factors can play into the delay of a release. For example, a defendant having multiple attorneys, not able to make bond, or a lack of prosecutors in Wake County to move their cases along.

“We have had prosecutors leave the office,” Freeman said.

Freeman has 44 prosecutors as of Thursday. She said she needs about 12 more.

Inmates eligible for a jail review hearing have been incarcerated for at least two years and are not facing murder charges.

This year, 80 cases have been reviewed, and 40 of those defendants were released.

The next jail review hearing is set for August with the goal to continue to move inmates out of the already overcrowding jail through a speedy court process.