Which is why the only Bat Rogues who haven't escaped at least twice don't want to or haven't been around long enough.
You have a point about Stonegate, though - which only outlines a fundamental problem with the Joker: Why the hell isn't he in Federal custody? If nothing else, after the second time he skips Arkham and kills a bunch of people, the Feds would step in. Not to mention, the scope of some of his crimes clearly had to have crossed over to federal jurisdiction.
And I can't be the only one who thinks Dick's "We're best equipped" answer to Babs' "Why don't we step aside" question was just Dick ducking the question?