OFFICIALS QUESTION THE COST OF JUSTICE

County Leaders Examine Solutions To Legal System's Cramped Offices, Jails

A growing number of jail inmates, crowded courtrooms and court staff
working in cramped quarters are just a few of the concerns facing York
County's criminal justice system. While trying to fix the space crunch,
county officials also are trying to determine how much it will cost.

In October, the county hired GSA Ltd., a Durham, N.C.-based consulting
firm, to recommend a course of action. GSA recently completed a space study
of other county buildings, including the administrative headquarters in
York and the office complex on Heckle Boulevard in Rock Hill.

The recommendation: Over 10 years, the county needs to add about 277,000
gross square feet of office space at a cost of almost $40 million.

Consultants hope to start the criminal justice study this month and have it
wrapped up by February.

But county law enforcement and court officials already have some thoughts
on the matter.

Over the past six years, the average daily number of prisoners in the
256-bed county jail at the Moss Justice Center in York has doubled from
about 160 to 320, Sheriff Bruce Bryant said. Daily population figures
include inmates who are booked into the jail and then immediately released
on bond, as well as federal inmates.

These numbers will continue to increase as the county's population grows,
Bryant said. "The more people you have in your community, the more (crime)
problems you have."

At the same time, more criminals are being put behind bars thanks to
cooperation between the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies
in the area. The county's multijurisdictional drug enforcement unit is a
good example, helping step up drug arrests countywide, he said. "We're
fighting drugs like never before in this county."

A new multijurisdictional crime scene team, the Crime Stoppers hotline and
new technology also have led to more arrests, Bryant said.

While expanding the county jail could help with overcrowding, Bryant thinks
a satellite jail between Rock Hill and Fort Mill also is needed.

A second jail site would save time for sheriff's deputies, who often must
spend several hours a day driving suspects to the detention center. The
more time officers spend in transit, the less time they have to be out
patrolling the streets, he said.

The county's Clerk of Courts Office is suffering from a lack of staff space
in its three locations, said Clerk of Court David Hamilton, who oversees
about 38 full-time and seven part-time employees. "We are maxed out."

The department includes the real estate and civil division in the York
County Courthouse in downtown York, the criminal division in Moss Justice
Center and the family court division in the office complex on Heckle Boulevard.

Jury space is also a concern. The justice center's jury assembly room --
where potential jurors gather before jury selection begins -- only seats
about 100, Hamilton said. But high-profile cases sometimes require a jury
pool twice that size.

During a recent murder trial, for instance, more than 200 potential jurors
were asked to assemble at the downtown York courthouse, where there is more
room. But with scant parking downtown, the jurors had to park at the
justice center and be bused to York.

Besides expanding courtroom facilities, consolidating the criminal and
civil court locations could make the legal process more efficient, Hamilton
said. Of the 46 counties in South Carolina, York County is the only one
with three Clerk of Courts locations, Hamilton said.

Office space also is in short supply in the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office
at the Moss Justice Center. The office staff has tripled in size since
Solicitor Tommy Pope came on board. Finding places to put people has become
increasingly challenging, Pope said. Some employees are working in very
cramped quarters, such as the three attorneys who share a windowless,
former file room known jokingly as "the cave."

The criminal justice system study will forecast space needs through 2020,
said consultant Howard Geisler of GSA. Con-sultants will review everything
from court case loads to crime statistics to jail populations.

York County's location near a state line and a large city likely adds to
its crime rate, Geisler said.

On the plus side, he said, the county owns extra land around many of its
buildings, including the Moss Justice Center, which will make it easier for
expansion.