Central Booking

Central Booking makes changes Central Booking has made what Warden Mitchell J. Franks describes as small but critical improvements in the booking process that have helped officials avoid major problems for nearly a year. Audit finds trouble in schools An independent audit of the Baltimore County school system found a breakdown in oversight and teacher training that has led to a disconnect between what children need to learn and what is being taught. City schools' budget unveiled Classes would become smaller at some elementary schools, and middle schools would be reconfigured under a $1.2 billion budget proposal unveiled by the interim city schools chief executive officer.

NATIONAL Medicaid rule shuts out citizens A new federal rule intended to keep illegal immigrants from receiving Medicaid has instead shut out tens of thousands of U.S. citizens who have had difficulty complying with requirements to show proof-of-citizenship documents, state officials say. pg 1a Halliburton moving to Dubai Oil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of...

On Lt. Debra Sisco-Watts' computer inside Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center, the names of a dozen people who have been held for more than 15 hours stood out in red text at the top of the screen. The names of dozens more were below in black. This slight, but important, difference in color and location is her signal to pay extra attention so that a complicated booking process doesn't bog down. The names in red were the problem. "If I don't have a document, I'll call a liaison," said Sisco-Watts, who oversees an early warning system on the booking floor and was discussing some of the things that can cause delays.

The U.S. Department of Justice has reached an agreement with state officials regarding a scathing report it issued more than four years ago criticizing security, medical and sanitation conditions at the Baltimore City Detention Center and booking center. The agreement -- the details of which were not released -- follows a six-year investigation into deficiencies in the jail's care for inmates. "The department is very pleased to have reached this memorandum of understanding, and we continue to work very hard at the detention center," said Mark Vernarelli, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which operates the facilities.

Maryland Public Safety Secretary Mary Ann Saar yesterday named Howard Ray Jr. acting commissioner for the Division of Pretrial Detention and Services. Ray, the former deputy of the division, succeeds William J. Smith, who resigned in August. He will oversee daily operations at the Baltimore City Detention Center and Central Booking and Intake Center.

MARYLAND Booking suit dropped The public defender's office dropped its lawsuit against the state-run prison system, saying it was satisfied with progress in ending overcrowding at Central Booking. PG 12B

Public defender drops suit after fixes in Central Booking processing The public defender's office dropped its lawsuit against the state-run prison system yesterday, saying it was satisfied with progress in ending overcrowding at the Central Booking and Intake Center that had routinely kept detainees jailed longer than legally allowed. Only four people in the past nine months have been kept at the processing center for more than 24 hours without seeing a lawyer or having a bail hearing, a marked improvement from 18 months ago when as many as 84 detainees a day were being held for too long without seeing a judge or court commissioner.

A 35-year-old inmate at Baltimore's downtown Central Booking and Intake Center was found dead in his bed yesterday morning, officials said. Correctional officers found Clinton Edward Williams, a Baltimore resident, about 7:40 a.m. while conducting routine checks, said Barbara Cooper, a spokeswoman for the Division of Pretrial Detention and Services. He was transported to Mercy Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 8:19 a.m., she said. Williams had been held at Central Booking on assault and weapons charges since May 8 and was awaiting trial, Cooper said.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that the trial of three correctional officers accused of beating to death Raymond K. Smoot will remain in the city, rejecting a defense motion for change of venue. Dameon C. Woods, Nathan D. Colbert and James L. Hatcher are charged with second-degree murder in the case, which is scheduled for trial in September. They are accused of fatally attacking Smoot, 51, in May 2005 in his cell at the city Central Booking and Intake Center. Defense attorneys for the officers argued the change-of-venue motion in a hearing last month before Circuit Judge John M. Glynn.

The trial of three correctional officers accused of beating to death Raymond K. Smoot inside his cell at Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center has been postponed until September. Yesterday, a Baltimore Circuit Court judge said he needs more information before ruling on a defense motion for a change of venue. Attorneys for Dameon C. Woods, Nathan D. Colbert and James L. Hatcher argued yesterday at a hearing that their clients would not be able to receive a fair trial in Baltimore.