Overcrowding Means Violations For Jail

The Spartanburg County Jail has been cited for three violations of State Department of Corrections codes stemming from overcrowding of the facility.

The violations: a population over the rated capacity of the jail, not enough beds for the prisoners, and poor air circulation, were outlined in a letter from the Department of Corrections to warden Larry Powers on Nov. 16.

The violations were noticed by the department during the Nov. 8 yearly inspection of the jail.

The inspection report noted that the "total rated capacity" of the jail is 82 prisoners. However, the "average daily population" of the jail for the previous three months was 110, with a high of 131 prisoners in the past year.

Daily jail population records show that the jail’s population varied from 71 to 113 in December but almost always stayed above the capacity of 82. In November, the jail had from between 81 and 131 prisoners at any time.

"This is a chronic thing." Powers said.

He added, "We usually stay at or above our capacity," and have been ever since he became warden in April of 1982.

The population figures do not accurately reflect the number of prisoners spending the night in the jail, though because those awaiting arraignment and bond hearings during the day are counted in the population even though they may not be detained.

The other violations both stem from this overcrowding in that if there are too many prisoners in the facility, there would not be enough beds for them, and if too many people are housed in a facility designed for a smaller population the air circulation will be poor, Powers said.

The codes the jail has violated state: "The number of inmates occupying a cell, room, or dorm shall not exceed the rated capacity of the cell, room or dorm when based upon the 'average daily population of the previous three months,'...each facility shall provide a bed for each inmate,...and "forced air circulation of at least ten cubic feet per minute turnover of fresh or purified air shall be provided for each inmate."

"Average daily population exceeds rated capacity and due to this overcrowdedness, beds are not always available. Air circulation is not sufficient for the number of persons detained; this is especially true during the summer months," the inspection report said.

Powers was instructed to "take necessary action to meet the minimum standards for local detention facilities as approved by the South Carolina Corrections Department" when he received the report.

He also was required to complete a corrective action report "indicating the action taken to overcome these deficiencies noted on the facility inspection report" and return it by Feb 16.

Powers' "corrective action report" states that "in an effort to reduce overcrowdedness, the facility (1) utilizes rented space from the city jail, (2) works closely with the courts to move inmates as fast as possible, and (3) attempts to schedule week-end sentences during non-peak periods. The facility will continue to seek other alternatives to help alleviate the problem."

Powers&8217; report continued, "While air circulation is a problem, some steps have been undertaken to reduce the problem especially in the summertime. Two roof-mounted exhaust fans are used on a year-round basis. In addition, window fans have been purchased and placed outside each cell in an effort to provide additional air circulation. Further, during the summer months, inmates are provided additional fluids and lighting is reduced in an effort to help with the heat problem."

"I think the jail, as a whole, is in good shape except that the physical condition of the building itself has deteriorated somewhat," Powers said.

Healthy, non-violent, prisoners who don’t need constant attention are kept at the city jail when the county jail is overcrowded, but to really solve the problem the county "would have to renovate (add on to) the county jail or construct a new facility," Powers said.

"This is something the county needs to be aware of and something we need to be working on constantly," he said.

Powers pointed out that when the state Department of Health and Environmental Control inspected the jail&2017;s kitchen, they rated it at 98 points out of a possible 100 and gave the food an A rating.

The Spartanburg Fire Department also rated the facility adequate, he said.

Billie Moore, a corrections department inspector who has inspected the jail, said Powers "is doing a wonderful job up there with what he&2017;s got, but over the years the population of the jail has exceeded its rated capacity."

The jail is not in bad shape; it is simply inadequate for housing the number of prisoners which need to be housed there, Moore said.