Funding for jail political hot seat

As Spartanburg County Councilman Danny Allen's voice trailed off, most people in last week's administrative briefing immediately recognized the political dilemma implied by that lingering "but." At a time when anti-tax sentiments are rampant and four of the five members of County Council face re-election contests, the council has little choice but to dole out between $15 million and $20 million for one of the most politically unpopular of its responsibilities - building a new county jail.

The task became more difficult last week as council members looked over the four spread sheets of cost projections - a seemingly endless line of numbers, most followed by multiple zeros - outlining four different proposals for building the new jail.

Everyday the county must house about twice as many inmates as the existing jail is rated by the S.C. Department of Corrections to hold. Though the county pays the city of Spartanburg to feed and house about 45 of the inmates in the city jail, that leaves an average of about 135 inmates in the county jail, which has a maximum capacity rating of 82. Speeding bond hearings and placing makeshift beds on cell floors has kept the jail open.

Department of Corrections officials have repeatedly cited the jail for overcrowding and other violations but have held off on taking any action against the county because the county continues to progress toward the construction of a new lockup. "We could shut the jail down," Department of Corrections inspector Billy Moore reminded council members last week. "What happens if you close us down?" asked Councilman David Dennis. "That would be your problem. But we're not in the business of closing jails down," Moore said, explaining the state wants to continue working with county officials to resolve jail problems.

Allen also raised the question of county liability for the jail conditions. Hundreds of jails across the country are operating under federal court supervision and new jails are being built because of inmate lawsuits complaining about jail conditions. "If you get a federal judge to come in and tell us how we have to build a jail, it will be a lot more expensive than what we're looking at here," Allen said. "A judge is not going to look at what it costs, he'll just say do it."

Despite the pressure from state officials to build more jail space, public demands on council members to keep county spending in check and to address other problems makes the decision on selecting a site for the new jail and authorizing its construction a bitter political pill. Delaying the decision could cost the county even more.

Already, the council has approved the $800,000 renovation of a county-owned warehouse to provide temporary jail space to relieve growing overcrowding problems until a new jail is complete. The temporary jail will cost about $1.1 million to operate during the three years the new jail is under construction - about $360,000 per year. That cost will be offset since the county will not have to pay the city $20 per inmate per day to house its inmate overflow. This year, the county budgeted $250,000 to pay the city for use of its jail. But with the ever-increasing county inmate population, county officials expect they may again be looking for jail space before a new jail can be completed in about three years.

County Council members want more information and more time to study all the angles of what potentially could be a $20 million decision. But they may be coming to the end of the line on a 32-year-old jail that was plagued with physical problems from its opening and has been overcrowded for the last half of its life.

As one architect put it after council members suggested the old jail might be used in conjunction with a new jail: "I think you've gotten your money's worth out of that jail. You've got a building that's essentially used up."