Transferring the Community Corrections Center from the House of Correction to the Sheriff’s Department would give Sheriff David Clarke, who proved himself so incapable of running the County Jail that the county was found in contempt of court, more power over more inmates.

Bad idea.

The proposal, reported today in the JS, would require more work-release inmates to be held at the House of Correction in Franklin, according to Sheriff’s Inspector Kevin Carr,  That means they would either lose their work-release privileges or be housed where transit isn’t exactly plentiful, which would amount to pretty much the same thing as losing their work release privileges.

While the move could put the health and well-being of inmates at risk, it would benefit the one person County Executive Scott Walker cares about most: Scott Walker. The Community Correctional Center is a pit. Running it is a losing proposition. Simply running a work release program carries the risk that participants will do something bad while they are in the community, with great political consequences for any elected official standing nearby.

So why not dump the whole, entire steaming mess on some other independently elected official? Why not dump in on the sheriff?