Bulging At The Bars

One jail problem is inescapable: Overcrowding

It was billed a sterling example of modern jail when dedicated in the summer of 1958.

But within two weeks, the Spartanburg County jail's reputation was tarnished when two inmates used a spoon to remove bricks and flee from what its designers described as "an escape-proof jail."

And just three years after its opening, some critics were already calling the facility obsolete.

Nevertheless, the jail has survived for three decades - though operations haven't always been smooth.

After 30 years of escapes, suicides, management problems, political controversy and budget woes, county officials are looking to replace the aging jail. The facility can no longer meet public demands for tougher law enforcement and more jail time for criminals or court orders protecting inmate rights.

Improved management policies have reduced some of the problems at the Spartanburg County jail over the past several years, but one remains inescapable - overcrowding. The lack of adequate space that is forcing officials to replace or expand the jail.

Since the doors clanged shut behind the first inmates 30 years ago, the county jail has borne witness to a changing society.

The facility again showed the signs of weakness in its design and construction May 1 when an inmate awaiting transfer to a state prison slipped away from guards, smashed through a window and escaped. He was recaptured a short time later.

But his short-lived flight typified a number of escapes which have plagued the facility from its beginning.

"There's no question it (the escape) illustrates the need for a new facility," County Administrator Ken Westmoreland said. "Over The years, through the life of the facility, the design weaknesses have repeatedly come to light with escapes and other problems."

"Management has done an excellent job in preventing escapes, but there are obviously a lot of security risks in the building."

Some of those security problems have come to light via the creativity of inmates. One fashioned a fishing pole with a rolled-up newspaper and torn sheets to real in a hacksaw blade with the help of an outside accomplice. He then sawed through the bars of his cell.

Another crawled through a false ceiling to freedom. Sheriff's officers, believing he was still in the crawl space, fired tear gas canisters, but the irritating fumes backed up, forcing the evacuation of the jail and parts of the adjacent courthouse.

But its history of escapes are just one indication of the physical problems at the jail over the years.

Within three years of its opening, a special legislative investigation concluded the jail was obsolete and need replacing. A three-member legislative panel determined a minimum of $134,000 was needed to bring the facility up to minimum standards.

"The jail was not adequately planned and lacked a consistent theory of what maximum security really is," the panel reported. It was particularly critical of the contractor for using improper material and for not following plans. In on report, officials said they feared the jail was so poorly constructed, "a burley man could push the walls down," the Herald-Journal reported at the time.

Some repairs were made and the jail continued operating, but by 1966 some local officials were still advocating a new jail. An engineering study then called for $397,000 in minimum improvements, but said $1.2 million was needed to fully upgrade and expand the jail to meet county needs.

Only minor repairs were made, and again in 1968 county officials were considering a $133,000 renovation project.

By the 1970s, changes at the jail shifted from physical renovations to operational and management changes.

The biggest change was taking the jail from the sheriff's bailiwick in 1971 and placing it under the supervision of an appointed warden answerable the County Commission, and later the county administrator.

Joe Walker, the jail's first warden said, "When the county took over the jail from the sheriff, they (county commissioners) didn't realize what they were getting into. They didn't realize that when the sheriff pulled out he would take his people with him and they would have to start from scratch" restaffing and reorganizing operations. And they had only $60,000 to accomplish the task - a paltry amount compared to this year's $1.3 million budget.

Walker said he initially had a seven-man staff to operate the jail's three shifts. Eventually, that staff was expanded to 10, he said, but even that was insufficient. Walker added he doesn't believe the current 32-member staff of jail Director Larry Powers is enough to properly manage the jail.

Even during his four years at the jail, which ended in September 1975, overcrowding was occasionally a problem, the former warden said. "The jail was designed for 80-90 prisoners, people awaiting trial. It was not designed for long-term confinement."

Walker said it was difficult, with the jail's limitations, to operate the facility.

Walker said he has no ambition to return to operating the jail because of the character of today's inmates. He said inmates in the '80s have a different attitude, particularly those arrested on drug offenses. "They're unpredictable," he said. His administration had to deal with its share of troublemakers, sometimes requiring the use of force. But jailers now have no way to anticipate what they might encounter, Walker said.

"You have to admire the people that have the touch to deal with the people who are incarcerated today. It"s not an easy job. It's altogether a different clientele."

Walker's successor, Cliff Edwards, now the mayor of Chesnee, agrees with many county officials that the need for a new jail is long overdue. He said discussion on the need for a new jail began before he left the warden's office in 1978.

He said administration continued to implement management improvements, like prohibiting law officers from bringing weapons into the jail, better monitoring of contraband coming into the jail and records changes.

That has continued through Powers's Administration, who said management policies have been implemented to make up for some of the physical shortcomings of the jail. Increased training for staff members, dividing prisoners into more compatible and more manageable groups and more supervision of inmates all have combined to improve jail operations, he said.

But last month's escape illustrates improved management policies can only do so much toward alleviating problems at the outdated jail, county administrator Ken Westmoreland said.