Bulging At The Bars

Inmate overflow puts the squeeze on aging county jail

The sound of metal slapping metal.

It's a cold sound, especially when reverberating endlessly between the bars and bricks and narrow corridors of the Spartanburg county jail.

It's a chilling sound - that clang of metal from heavy, iron-barred doors closing behind you.

It's a sound heard by more than 100 men every day, some convicted of crimes, others awaiting trial. A sound and an experience none of them are likely to forget.

The Spartanburg County Detention Facility doesn't readily show its age. Hallways are swept clean. Wear and tear is disguised with paint, plaster and steel plate.

But the bars and steel - and the sounds - are an unmistakable reminder that it is a jail.

Cramped cells divide the second floor of the jail into four sections. But that design was developed long before the federal courts began setting minimum standards for prisons and jails. And those standards could pose the most serious problem the jail has faced in its troubled 30-year history.

It's not a new problem, but one officials say is likely to force the construction of a new jail.

The problem? lack of space.

Jail Director Larry Powers calls overcrowding, without a doubt, the most serious problem facing the jail.

The S.C. Department of Corrections in 1980 put an 82-inmate capacity rating on the Spartanburg County jail, based on at least 40 square feet of living space per inmate. But even before the mandate, the county jail's average daily population far exceeded the inmate limit. Now, the population some days is more than double that level.

The facility's average daily population since July 1987, has been 105 inmates, according to jail records. But that average doesn't include women prisoners and an average of 25 men held at the Spartanburg City Jail under a city-county contract. The number of people in county custody, including those house at the city jail, has topped the 200 mark on at least three occasions in the past year, records show.

Mattresses must be placed on many cell floors each night to accommodate the county jail's inmates. The facility has 113 beds, 90 in the general population cells and the rest for trusties and juvenile offenders.

Anyone in jail for more than a day has to sleep on the floor at some time or other, inmates say of the bed shortage.

Tony Huskey, in jail for two months awaiting trial on charges of accessory to rape, said he slept on the floor for four days until a bed opened up.

"People are walking all over you," he said. "You try to get out of the way, in the corner or on a table or somewhere, but when you have so many people in there, sometimes you have no place else to go but in the middle of the cells."

"You're right on somebody, all the time."

Huskey expects the overcrowding to spur fights among inmates, especially when the weather warms up - the jail has no air conditioning.

Inmate John Wofford agrees jail overcrowding is critical, especially since there is little to do. Wofford, awaiting transfer to a special state-operated shock probation program, said a short daily recreation period and three eight-minute telephone and smoking periods are the only times inmates can leave their cells each day. County ordinance prohibits smoking in county-owned buildings, except in designated areas.

The monotony, coupled with overcrowding, could cause serious problems, Wofford said.

Dexter Suber, who has been incarcerated several times on different charges, said while no major incidents have occurred so far, jail conditions and overcrowding could lead to conflicts between inmates.

Those problems, Powers said are largely attributable to "the design of the building itself," something that only can be corrected with a new jail.

"The control room is not ideally located. The door-locking system could be improved. Because of flaws in the building design, steel plates had to be placed over walls to prevent escapes and suicide attempts," he said, outlining some of the more critical design shortfalls.

The building has no central heat system, operating off the county courthouse boiler system. The only way to regulate the heat in the winter is to open and close windows to let heat out or keep heat in, he added.

There is no cooling system. "We have to deal with each change of season in a different way," Powers said. "It can be comfortable in the winter and spring, but in the summer, there's not much we can do. We try to allow inmates to sit around in their underwear, letting them wear a minimum of clothing to be as comfortable as possible."

Jalousie windows throughout the jail have been criticized as a security risk and an inadequate means of ventilation, Powers added.

"In the winter, there is never enough heat - there's a lack of blankets," inmate Suber said. "And in the summer, there's not enough air."

But space remains the No. 1 problem, Powers said. "To meet state standards, the (County) Council will have to consider some way of getting additional space."

Fredrich V. Wenz, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg, said conditions at the jail are a powder keg waiting to be sparked.

"I'm surprised there have been no serious incidents at the jail already - like a jail riot," Wenz said.

Poor jail conditions and overcrowding are not unique to Spartanburg County, although inmate lawsuits and federal court intervention seen in many other communities have been avoided locally. According to a 1986 National Association of Counties study, county jails nationwide were filled to 144 percent of capacity.

Powers said a number of management steps have been taken to try to reduce overcrowding in the Spartanburg county jail - and avert court intervention. He said jail officials work closely with the courts to arrange bond and preliminary court hearings to reduce the number of pretrial inmates.

Inmate Wofford said despite those efforts, there are still some people in jail that could be released on personal recognizance bonds. He believes he should have been freed on bond while awaiting an opening in the state shock probation program. "I've lived here all my life. I have a good job. I'm not going to leave town," he said.

Several others are in the same situation, Wofford added. Many of those arrested for public intoxication are in jail because they can't meet bonds of $100 or less. "They aren't dangerous criminals, they just don't have any money, " he said.

Powers said jail officials can only work with court officers. He said most judges know the jail is crowded and cooperate to expedite guilty pleas and bond procedures. But he said some judges are inflexible, and jail officials must carry out their orders.

Also, the use of weekend sentences and work details, particularly for those convicted of DUI and public intoxication, reduce the time those offenders are jailed.

Recently, Powers said 72 people were serving weekend sentences. Some served time, depending on their criminal records, the offense they committed and the philosophy of the judge that did the sentencing. But others, he explained, performed community service work during the days and spent nights in jail. Others were only required to "check in" at the jail, then report to a work detail.

The most common community service is litter pickup. Powers pointed out that in a single day, nearly 300 bags of litter were picked up along Interstate 85.

Despite alternative sentencing, the demand for jail space continues to grow. In the past two years, the number of people booked into the jail has increased 12 percent, from 13,743 in the fiscal year 1984-85 to a projected 15,500 this year.

Even if a new jail is approved, county officials estimate it will take at least three years to complete. So, Powers said, jail officials can do little but manage with what they have.

But he believes the county can operate the existing jail for some time without any major problems. "It's still manageable, but the demand for jail space keeps increasing," he said.

Management is key, he said, particularly improving security by boosting the number and the quality of the jail staff.

All jailers are required to go through an extensive 80-hour classroom and practical training course at the State Law Enforcement Academy. That training includes everything from firearms training to first aid. Successful completion of a written test is also required before the jailers are hired.

And the training continues after the jailers report for work. Powers said regular on-the-job training programs are conducted for the jail staff. As part of that training, he said, the staff has incorporated videotapes of actual incidents at the jail.

He said the tapes serve two purposes. They document action taken by jailers, and also help reduce the jail's liability against lawsuits by prisoners claiming to be mistreated or injured while in jail. The tapes also allow jailers to discuss and determine how to handle the situation if it occurs again, he said.

"The best way to handle trouble at the jail is to try to prevent it before it occurs," Powers said.

Part of doing that is to try to classify prisoners when they are admitted and place them in cells where they are less likely to cause any problems. He said efforts are made to keep convicted prisoners and those awaiting trial segregated, when space allows.

Other than the overcrowding problems, the jail has had nearly perfect scores in annual inspections by the state Department of Corrections.

Inmates interviewed said Powers' policies are fair and are largely the reason there haven't been serious problems at the crowded jail.

"They've had a lot of improvements in the way they run things since I first came here," said Suber, first arrested in 1978. "They're pretty fair."

Nash agrees. "I'd rather be out, but its not that bad."