Marshals revise jail offer to county

The U.S. Marshals Service amended an offer to Spartanburg County for the use of spaces in the temporary jail.

County officials weren't impressed with a Marshals Service offer two weeks ago to pay $300,000 to use 25 spaces in the new jail for 15 years. So now the Marshals Service has responded with a plan that would pay the county $180,000 for the use of 18 spaces in the temporary jail for three years. Spartanburg County Council members said they will consider the offer, which would help offset the $916,000 cost of the temporary jail. They made no decision yesterday.

The Marshals Service also would pay the county $30 a day for each federal prisoner who stays in the jail while awaiting trial, said Walter Allen, an official with the service's prison operations branch.

The county had wanted to sign a $300,000 contract with the Marshals Service to house up to 25 inmates in the temporary jail. Then, the county wanted to negotiate a second contract with the Marshals Service to house inmates in a $13.7 million, 240-bed jail to be built off California Avenue. But instead of talking about the temporary jail, the Marshals Service offered the county $300,000 for a 15-year lease on spaces in the new jail.

The county jail sometimes houses a half-dozen federal prisoners, jail Director Larry Powers said. They usually stay 30 to 40 days.

The Marshals Service would be willing to negotiate another deal with the county once a new, $14.4 million jail is built off California Avenue in the next three years, Allen said.

Another plus with the government contract is that the Marshals Service can help the county buy surplus materials such as medical and kitchen equipment.

The average population of the existing county jail has risen since a 130-bed temporary jail opened March 17 in the remodeled Sullivan Hardware building across from the County Courthouse. The number of inmates has risen as high as 250 and was 195 yesterday, Powers said.

Powers and county officials will have to make sure they can guarantee the federal government 18 spaces if overcrowding gradually becomes a more pressing problem.

"On the surface, (the Marshals Service offer) looks favorable," County Administrator Roland Windham said. "But as with any new facility ... the courts have a tendency to put people in jail instead of letting them out on bond.

" The county must build a new jail because the average daily population of the 33-year-old jail is more than double its rated capacity of 82 inmates.