If we didn't have Clay, Steve and others of their ilk on County Camp Road, the thugs from ours and surrounding counties would have a field day in Columbia County. If Clay says he needs more jail space to lock up thugs, let's give it to him.
Should Columbia County officials prolong the construction of additions to the county's detention center, police say some prisoners might find themselves bunking on the jail floor.
"I wouldn't say we're overcrowded," said Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Brett Carani. "We're almost at capacity."
On Monday, the inmate population at the detention center on Columbia Road in Appling was 244. Its capacity is 266.
County voters will decide in November whether to extend that capacity. The construction of two 10,000-square-foot dorm additions to the jail is part of a 2011-16 1-cent sales tax referendum.
The dorms and a new administration building at the detention center will cost $10.05 million, according to county documents. The first dorm is included as part of a sales tax bond package, meaning the $4 million needed for its construction might come sooner and then be repaid with sales tax money.
Should voters approve the referendum, Capt. Carani said, the dorm addition could be built in two to three years.
The dorm construction might also avoid legal entanglements for the sheriff's office, Lt. Harvey Woods said.
"If you start putting inmates on the floor, you tend to have more lawsuits," he said. "Even though they may be frivolous lawsuits, you still have to pay county attorneys to go out there to defend it."
The detention center in Aiken county is already experiencing the kind of overcrowding Columbia County officials hope to avoid.
Aiken County sheriff's Lt. Michael Frank said its detention center is designed to house 317 prisoners. However, 413 inmates were in the facility Wednesday, he said. It has held as many as 492 inmates, Lt. Frank said.
To relieve some of the overcrowding at the detention center, Lt. Frank said, officials are adding 40 three-layer bunk beds.
The Webster Detention Center on Phinizy Road has a capacity of 910, and the jail on Walton Way has a capacity of 358. The county also maintains 50 beds at a state-run detention center on Tobacco Road. On Monday, the inmate population in Augusta was 1,183. Though the Richmond County jails are not overcrowded, they're close.
Augusta authorities also hope to expand their jail, but Maj. William Johnson said those hopes were dashed, for now, when construction bids for the expansion project recently were thrown out by county commissioners. The low bids of $26.76 million and $28.68 million, made by McKnight Construction and R.W. Allen & Associates, respectively, were rejected by the county procurement department for a technicality and an incomplete bid form.
Capt. Carani compared the proposed dorms in Columbia County to military barracks: multiple bunk beds in a large room.
"The amount of cells we've got now is the amount of cells that we need for the near future," Lt. Woods said. "What we need is beds for minimum custody inmates, and that's what the dorms provide at a cheaper price to the taxpayer than building a cell area."
Each dorm will hold 96 beds, Lt. Woods said. The detention center opened in 2002, and he said it is impressive that the sheriff's office is only just now at the point of needing to add to the facility.
"Most jails open up, and they're already out of room when they open," he said.
Lt. Woods called the additions a proactive measure and said that once both dorms are complete, they should meet the county's needs for many years.
"If we can build two of them, then that will take us pretty far into the future," he said. "If we build one, it's going to give us about three or four years."
Staff Writer Sylvia Cooper contributed to this article.
Reach Donnie Fetter at (706) 868-1222, ext. 115, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
Average monthly inmate population by year at the Columbia County Detention Center:
2001.......133
2002.......156
2003.......180
2004.......200
2005.......205
2006.......203
2007.......217
Source: Columbia County Sheriff's Office
Comments
If we didn't have Clay, Steve and others of their ilk on County Camp Road, the thugs from ours and surrounding counties would have a field day in Columbia County. If Clay says he needs more jail space to lock up thugs, let's give it to him.
Jails are just holding centers where prisoners are warehoused until their sentences are up, then they're released to commit more crime and return to their new home at county expense. Make the jails forced education and labor camps that have personal improvement tied to the release date and most of the prisoners would stop being institutionalized and the size of the inmate population would not only stop growing, it would shrink to fit existing facilities.
The upper command staff are only as good as the men and women who patrol the streets everyday. Dont give them the praise for catching the criminals, give it to the road officers and investigators.
I say we have two options; look to Joe Arpaio of Manicopa(AZ) County for a creative solution OR build the facility beyond our current capacity needs then "rent" that space to other judicial systems. It happens all the time and could help pay for the jail over a shorter period of time. The headcount of many GA counties has dictated early releases. CC could offer an alternative while reducing the financial burden on local property owners and residents.
Check the counties that have built jails based on renting out space. Most of them are losing revenue because they have to have more and more beds for themselves. Once that happens everyone starts asking why they aren't getting as much money. Besides once you start taking federal prisoners your operating costs go up because of the rigid standards required by the feds to house their prisoners. Besides, the property owners aren't paying for it. It is part of the SPLOST sales tax.
tents in a barbed enclosure would do the same.
Sheriff Arpaio of Arizona does have a tent city and the inmates that go into it go voluntarily. The big problem with his approach in his overall jail operation is that even though his meals cost 75 cents a meal for inmates and he has his tent city and his pink underwear he is also the most sued Sheriff in the country. I'm not saying he is doing things right or wrong but it does mean that he spends a lot more money defending those lawsuits even if he wins. And they go into the millions. So I guess the real question is - how many lawsuits are we as the taxpayers willing to pay for? Maricopa County is willing to pay for them all as evidence of their Sheriff's reelections. County jails hold more people waiting for trial than they do people who are convicted. That means that some of those people are found innocent. I would rather have the Sheriff and his staff treating inmates the way they would want a close family member treated if they went to a county jail. Humanely! And I believe that is what we have in Columbia County. Get a group together and call to ask for a tour of your jail. Sheriff Whittle has always been glad to have his staff show citizens what they do.
Craig Spinks?thugs black and white do crimes but ya'll just steal money out the office and get slaps on the hand.
they holding ppl who don't need to behind bars.why hold somebody in jail because they can't pay there probation,why hold somebody behind bars because they can't pay a bail bond for driving with no license.thats just plain ol stupid.
I heard 401 is 10 x max out and still have all those ppl down there sleeping everywhere on the floor or standing up..I thought when it's like that the feds suppose to step in?AM I WRONG
Don't, I don't know about the lawsuits, but he keeps getting elected. If there are lawsuits, the county populace appear willing to "pay the piper!
SMH, sounds if you've had a few rough nights in "Jerico"!
IBE - I addressed that he keeps getting re-elected even though the lawsuits are skyhigh. It is a matter of public record. You can google any Pheonix newspaper and get the info. My question is are WE willing to make the same kind of payments? and SMH they are in jail because it is the law. Sheriff's don't make the laws they only enforce them. If you don't like someone going to jail because they can't pay probation or can't afford bail for a suspended license then direct that to the lawmakers, the one's you vote to go to Atlanta. The feds step in when certain conditions are met. But over the last few years they have come to realize that counties can't afford to expand right away and have backed off a little bit.
PT - jails are not warehouses to house inmates until their sentences are up. As stated before most are awaiting trial so they warehouse the one's with no bond or can't afford bond. And the vast majority of those aren't there long enough for a meaningful education program. The prisons warehouse those convicted. The prisons offer education but it can't be forced - it's like you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. The state has forced labor in the prison setting and I agree it should be expanded. We don't rehabilitate anyone and no prison ever has. The rehabilitation has to come from the prisoner wanting and deciding on his own to do that. All we can do is offer the tools so they can rehabilitate themselves.
No beds to sleep in. Do no crime and you want have to sleep on the cold floor. Jail has become a way of life for most of them, free meals, free med's what more can you ask for? O, their rights......................
BFD if the prisoners have to sleep on the floor. These prisoners are in jail because they are CRIMINALS and they chose to be in JAIL by BREAKING THE LAW. Some former posts are correct, pitch big tents and sleep on the ground or chain them together and chain them to a tree. Never forget, these maggots VOLUNTEERED to be inmates by their CRIMINAL behavior. Furthermore, these maggots should be WORKING during the day, and not laying around getting their jailhouse Ph.D. in becoming better criminals after their release. Make their memory of being in jail such a bad memory that maybe, just maybe they choose to obey the law, get a job and get off of the corner, and pay for their future with a check that they earn in the workplace, rather than the government check that they receive for being a worthless hood rat maggot. What a concept!
Boy they sure know how to squeeze money in CC. The cost for these pods will only be about $500 per square foot. Golly at that rate my little old 1600 square foot house would have only cost $800,000 to build. But its only taxpayer money so who really cares? We all know that taxpayers can afford anything at any price, Can't we? Better idea would be to let Holiday Inn build it, and remember this is a low security facility.
disssman - is your house case hardened to prevent someone from escaping. Didn't think so. Is your house wired with surveillance cameras to protect the officers working in the unit? I didn't think so. do you have 12 urinals and 12 toilets and 6 to 8 showers? i didn't think so. Columbia County's facility is not a "low security" facility. They hold people that are charged anywhere from a suspended license to murder as do most county jails. and 55-F 100 I agree that it is not a big deal for prisoners to sleep on the floor but if it gets too bad that is not the way the feds see it and inmates will win lawsuits or will make the county release inmates. Take your pick - adequate housing, lawsuits or more criminals on the streets.
Open bay barracks with wood stoves and no ac sounds about right for these crooks!
pat, you can't force these losers to be educated, or work.they have unfortunately chosen to not be a part of a productive society.i say give them longer sentences,and keep them off the streets.i don't want them in my neighborhood,and i'm sure you don't either.crime is rampant in this country,trying to fix in 1 year what their sorry parents couldn't in 18 has been proven to be futile.
"If you build it they will come." People who are sentenced to less than 2 years in prison are often housed in the county facility. Dont is correct and must know the system from the blue side of it--not the orange. I agree with everything he said.
Spoken like a true republicat "don"t). I wasn't aware the county incarserated murderers in their jails, I thought the state "prisons" were for that. By the way Holiday Inn would provide a toilet sink and shower in each cubicle. I know it went way over your head, but my point was, don't you think $500 a sq ft is a little expensive for a county facility? How much do you want to bet they build it on a very expensive piece of realestate with little or no room for future expansion? If we wanted to send people in jail a message, this favility would be on the edge of the county. I know you would say we need to keep them close to the court, but the problem is we transport them now so what is a few miles more?
The expansion is an attachment to the current facility. That jail was built so that it could be expanded to up to 600 beds. The infrastructure (kitchen, medical etc) was built to be able to accomodate future expansions like this one. And where do you think they keep murderers before they are convicted? Prison? Nope. It's in your local county jail. And no I don't think that is expensive for what they are building.
I vote for Joe Arpaio
Then go to Arizona cuz I don't want to pay the lawyers my tax money.
Being sued is no more reliable a predictor of failing to perform one's duties than not being sued is indicative of performing them. Because the Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, is the defendant in various and sundry inmate- and advocate-initiated lawsuits suits does not indicate that he does not do his job in conformance with all pertinent laws and regulations. Moreover, his receipt of a large number of lawsuits does not necessitate his losing them and costing his county's taxpayers exorbitant sums. Granted, he best have some good in-house lawyers but I'd bet that he does inasmuch as he's been in office a considerable period.
The murderers, etc are held in the county jail until they are found guilty, which can be up to a year or more. No one goes to state prison until they are convicted. Transportation costs for inmates are very high- it's not like they send a bus and the prisoner just hops on for the ride- and it's one place that a facility can save money, not to mention, the shorter the ride, the safer and more secure the ride is. There's a lot about prisons that are fixed costs and very little that are variable ones.
Craig Spinks - In my post I said about Sheriff Arpaio "...he is also the most sued Sheriff in the country. I'm not saying he is doing things RIGHT or WRONG..." I do know of a couple of wrongful death lawsuits he lost one of them being for $8.5 million. Although the county only had to pay $1 million and the insurance company paid the remainder. But the insurance company has since raised the deductable to $5 million for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office because of all the lawsuits from employees, former employees, inmates and families of dead inmates.
The only good criminal is a dead criminal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ueEfRXZCVA .....please view Americans Freedoms being destroyed also http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RfrcnAjcWZs and important too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3kBn1usddI
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
