PACKED JAIL WORRIES WILSON OFFICIALS

County To See Plans For Expansion That Will Adequately House Inmates

LEBANON - Sheriff Terry Ashe knows most people don't feel heartbreak when a
prisoner like Paul Searcy says ''I sleep on the floor'' because of
overcrowding at the Wilson County Jail.

Many prisoners have no beds except mattresses on a floor at the Wilson
County Jail, where winter's chill is definitely felt on the wall and floors.

''Sometimes you have no sheets or pillows,'' Searcy said. ''Everyone's on
top of each other.''

''We're human beings, like everyone else,'' adds Joe Featherstone, a
prisoner of the jail for more than a month because of a failed drug test.

While Ashe has a surprising rapport with prisoners, sympathy is not the
reason the sheriff has consistently lobbied the County Commission for two
years now for expansion of the 14-year-old jail in Lebanon.

The facility that was designed for 106 beds had 183 inmates listed last
week, a roster Ashe says is typical. He said the Wilson County Jail
normally now operates at 180%-200% of capacity.

''I've got them on the floor. We're doubling and tripling cells,'' Ashe
said. ''Most people say that's what they deserve, and sometimes I may say
that. But the issue is liability, liability, liability.

''We have a lot of fights, and a major contributor to that is overcrowding.
We have a world of frivolous lawsuits pending here, which keeps the sheriff
busy in a lawyer's office, and it costs the taxpayers. And you have people
on probation out on the streets who should be in jail because judges
realize our situation.''

The County Commission has hired an architect and detention consultant to
provide plans this month for expanding the facility.

''Not only to catch up but address needs for the long term,'' said Wilson
County Commissioner Rusty Thompson, who also is chairman of the Public
Works Committee.

''I am a staunch proponent for locking up people who have committed crimes.
One issue is, we have people walking the streets of Wilson County who
aren't in jail because we don't have the space. The second issue is that
even though the jail is certified'' by state inspectors ''we're spending a
lot of time keeping it certified. We've been made aware by certification
authorities we have an overcrowding issue.''

Davidson County was just released in March from more than 10 years of
federal court oversight because of jail overcrowding.

''When a system gets overcrowded, typically an inmate will file suit, and
the federal courts are listening to those cases,'' said Davidson County
Sheriff Daron Hall, elected this year.

''Lawsuits and court cases are very expensive'' to taxpayers, Hall said.

''Often you don't have the staff when you are overcrowded, and there is a
lot of potential liability. The federal courts can impose fines. There are
a ton of cost issues. We've been through that, and my position is, you do
better on the preventive end to have constitutional facilities.''

Ashe says there are about ''five or six'' lawsuits filed by inmates
claiming various mistreatments, and he expects more.

''It's painful, but it's what I said would happen three years ago,'' Ashe
said. ''And what I have back here are people that don't get along with
people. It sounds simple to just lock them up, but once you lock them up
they have a heckuva lot more rights than you or I. There are 276 standards
that have to be met daily here.''

Thompson said plans being worked on are to expand the existing jail, and
then for separate buildings to be built on the same property and connected
by a corridor.

Tying into the jail expansion is renovating and expanding the Wilson County
Courthouse. The county has purchased the College Street Church of Christ
property on South College Street in Lebanon, half a block from the courthouse.

''I don't know what the cost would be. If there has to be a tax increase, I
hope it wouldn't be too much,'' County Executive Robert Dedman said.
''We've grown tremendously here, and I think it's a good time with the
interest rates the way they are. It's something we have to do sooner or later.''