Deputy Sheriff Robert Taylor guards inmates in F-Block in C-Pod of the Augusta-Richmond County Detention Center on Phinizy Road. The Detention Center has 552 beds, and 440 were occupied Wednesday. JEFF JANOWSKI/STAFF

Jail in danger of overcrowding

Web posted October 29, 1998

By Tracie Powell
Staff Writer

Less than a month shy of its first anniversary, Augusta's newly built Phinizy Road jail is already nearing capacity.

Local law enforcement and court officials had hoped that the new jail would ease overcrowding at the city's joint law enforcement center on Walton Way and that they wouldn't have to build a new facility until after 2000.

``That's looking pretty dim right now,'' Sheriff Charlie Webster said Wednesday. ``The population is steadily growing a lot more than we anticipated, and it's going to be a problem sooner than we expected.''

Jail administrators have been working weekends lately, monitoring jail populations. It's been growing every week, they say. Since the Phinizy Road location opened last November, there has been a 20 percent increase in the inmate population, administrators say.

The city's two jails can hold a total of 910 people. This past weekend, there were only 90 spaces available between both facilities. Jailers juggled people between the two buildings to make sure there were enough beds for inmates to sleep on.

By Wednesday afternoon, the population dropped to 774. About 20 inmates were shipped to the state penitentiary, and more were processed out through the courts.

An inmate stretches in the middle of F-Block in C-Pod of the Augusta-Richmond County Detention Center while others play checkers and cards. JEFF JANOWSKI/STAFF

But the coming Halloween weekend is sure to be more harrowing than the last, said Capt. Gene Johnson, who heads the jail administration division at the Richmond County Sheriff's Department.

``Weekends are always bad,'' he said, shaking his head.

Augusta only recently emerged from the cloud of a 20-year-old lawsuit that challenged the conditions and overcrowding at the city's jail. While facing the suit, jail population rose and fell, reaching an all-time high in 1996 when the numbers swelled to 69 percent over its 340-person capacity. Until the new jail opened, prisoners were forced to sleep on floors.

If the numbers continue to rise this time, prisoners may soon rediscover the cold, hard concrete mattresses.

Officials point to several reasons why the numbers are increasing: more probation violators; more parole violators; and a larger number of deputies on the streets, which, coupled with the presence of the Georgia State Patrol and special task forces, means more arrests are being made and more cases are overwhelming the court system.

At least 384 people were being held in Augusta's jails Wednesday, all awaiting trial. About 139 of those are state prisoners, said Capt. Johnson.

Inmates awaiting trial are where the real problem, law enforcement officials say.

While under court order, Augusta received preferential treatment from the state -- state prisoners which are housed in Augusta's jails were moved out faster then because of the lawsuit, Sheriff Webster said. The state is slower about doing that now because the lawsuit has been lifted, he added.

``The courts are working as hard as they can to clear them out as fast as they can. It's just a vicious, never-ending cycle,'' Capt. Johnson said.

Declining to discuss what solutions he's working on, Sheriff Webster would only say that his department is doing all it can to keep the jail population down.

When push comes to shove, the city can build additional pods to the Phinizy Road jail which is less costly than building a whole new jail, Sheriff Webster said.

``We haven't exceeded capacity that way; we're headed that way but haven't gotten there,'' the sheriff added. ``We're going to do all that we can before going before the commission to request money to build additional facilities to the new jail.''

Tracie Powell can be reached at (706) 828-3851 or tpowell@augustachronicle.com.