Jail's needs strain Spartanburg County's coffers

Budget can't keep pace with number of prisoners

A steady increase in the number of people jailed in Spartanburg County over the past five years is putting more and more financial strain on county tax coffers, and the already overcrowded detention facility is facing a projected $1.5 million budget deficit this year.

Part of the problem is simple math. The jail asks for a certain amount of dollars. Elected and administrative officials want to keep spending down and approve a lesser amount. But rising costs - meals, medical care and contract services for the incarceration of juveniles, for instance - make the confines of that lesser amount nearly impossible to work within.

On average, about 33 of the 180 positions at the jail have been vacant for the past four years, increasing overtime spending and stretching thin the officers the jail does have. As the inmate population increases, individual officers are responsible for overseeing a greater number of people.

"We're not predicting population counts well," Assistant Spartanburg County Administrator Tom Gates said. "It's very difficult to get precise."

The jail has a $13 million budget this fiscal year - that's about as much money as the county pumps into its libraries and the 911 system combined, or more than twice the amount the county spends on parks - though expenses are expected to be about $14.5 million by the time the spending cycle closes this summer.

In other words, even though the detention center's budget has increased by about 24 percent over the past four years, that's not enough to keep up with the rising number of people incarcerated, the food and medical costs associated with holding them and the maintenance of the building.

The jail accounts for about 8.5 percent of the county's total budget.

Monday, nearly 940 inmates were incarcerated in Spartanburg County - close to twice the facility's capacity.

Overcrowding has been a problem for years, here and across the country. Preliminary designs and cost estimates for a jail expansion are expected to go before Spartanburg County Council in April, though construction could take up to three years.

So, the overall financial impact expanding the jail could have is unclear, particularly if the total number of inmates continues to rise.

"It all depends on how big the expansion is, how much the expansion costs," jail Director Larry Powers said. "But certainly it will have some impact. How long the impact lasts, that really depends on how much bed space you have, and how you can manage the inmate population."

Some elected officials wonder whether people are being held for minor offenses, taking up space and straining resources, instead of being allowed out on bond. Sheriff Chuck Wright said that minor infractions - he used the example of a speeding ticket - usually carry only a personal recognizance bond and, therefore, don't clog the system.

Officials wrestling with the issue Monday made it clear they understand the reality: The only way to limit spending on jails and prisoners is to cut down on and control the number of crimes committed (or at least the number of people caught committing them).

"That's a larger policy question," Gates said. "The solution to costing less ... is to have less people in the jail. But that's not an easy solution. How do you do that?"