HARDIN COUNTY TAKING STEPS TO REPLACE 'ANTIQUATED' JAIL

SAVANNAH - Diane McCraig and her cellmates at the Hardin County Jail pass
the time playing cards, writing letters and reading the Bible. But they
also spend a lot of time just trying to get along.

"There's a lot of tension," said McCraig, who was arrested for driving on a
revoked license. "We get on each others' nerves."

That's easy to do, they say, when you're cramped so closely together. The
jail has only one cell for women, which has held more than 20 at one time.
It's not uncommon for jailers to have to come into the cell to break up fights.

Overcrowding is a problem throughout the jail, which routinely houses
inmates at more than double its capacity. And the building is so outmoded
that there's no place for anyone to see daylight.

"Back 30 years ago, it was a good jail and served its purpose," said Wayne
Coots, jail administrator. "But times have changed. Now it's antiquated."

County officials have talked about building a jail for years. Now, they
say, it's finally going to happen. A committee of four county
commissioners, court officials and the sheriff has hired TLM Associates,
Inc., an architectural and engineering firm in Jackson, to survey possible
sites.

Commissioner Emery White, who sits on the committee, said the cost will run
between $5 million and $8 million. It would be funded with a property tax
hike and possibly a wheel tax. White said it's too early to say how much
the property tax would be raised.

Built in 1973, the jail lost its state certification in 1990 because of
overcrowding. State certification helps protect jails from getting sued,
said Bob Bass, an inspector with the Tennessee Corrections Institute.
Without it, not only are jails more liable, they also can lose state
funding for state prisoners and face higher insurance premiums, Bass said.

Though overcrowding has not been cited in a lawsuit, "we don't want to take
any chances," White said.

The Decatur County Jail is the only other jail in West Tennessee that lacks
certification, according to the Tennessee Corrections Institute. Bass said
that jail is also overcrowded and is even older than the Hardin County Jail.

Even though the Hardin County Jail isn't certified, Bass still makes
inspections. Until losing its certification, the jail was certified to hold
38 people. On the day Bass last inspected the jail in May, there were 76
people behind bars. On weekends, the number sometimes climbs to more than 90.

In his report, Bass also said the jail was failing to keep security,
medical and sanitation logs. He said those problems have since been addressed.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the Tennessee chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union, said the Tennessee Corrections Institute lacks the
teeth to force jails to make significant changes. But it takes years for
inmate lawsuits to work their way through the court system, she said.

Weinberg said jail should be reserved for dangerous criminals. Many behind
bars should probably receive community service instead.

"That's the biggest question - who are we locking up?" she said.

Hardin County deputies have been locking up an increasing number of people.
Since becoming sheriff in 1998, Sheriff Robert Alexander has beefed up
patrols and increased the number of yearly arrests from around 500 to
2,500, Coots said. More than 70 percent of jail inmates are arrested on
drug-related charges.

To relieve the overcrowding, jailers sometimes send inmates to jails in
surrounding counties.

White said that before building a jail, county officials wanted to focus on
improving schools and building a library.

"If we educated the kids, we wouldn't need a jail," he said.

White said he hopes the county breaks ground on the new jail within a year.
Officials had talked about building a criminal justice complex with
courtrooms, but decided it would be too costly. The new jail will probably
include an arraignment room.

Alexander said he would like the jail to be built near the Hardin County
Airport, where the county owns some land and there would be room to expand
in the future. But commissioners favor expanding the existing jail near the
courthouse.

To expand at the current site, the county would have to buy several homes
and businesses, including an auto junk yard. Alexander and Coots say the
soil there is probably contaminated and wouldn't meet environmental standards.

The crowded conditions at the existing jail make life difficult for jailers
as well as inmates. Besides having to break up fights, they have a hard
time keeping inmates from scrawling graffiti on the walls because it's hard
to find a place to put them when cleaning the cells. Preparing meals is a
hassle, too. The kitchen is too small to store much food, meaning endless
last-minute runs to the grocery store.

Meanwhile, in the women's cell, McCraig and others are trying to lay down
ground rules and make compromises. There are only a few bunks, so most
women are given mattress pads to lay on the floor. There is often little or
no space between them.

"You have to make the best of a bad situation," said McCraig, 42.

Like the men, they're allowed to have a television in their cell and
they're allowed to smoke. Smoking won't be allowed in the new jail, but
inmates have to have something to ease the pressure of overcrowding,
Alexander said.

For those who don't smoke, it makes life even more uncomfortable.

"It's terrible," said Tina Pierce, 34. "We can't breathe."

The problems of overcrowding won't go away until the new jail is built,
Alexander said.

"I'd like to say crime is going away, but it's not."

[SIDEBAR] Hardin County Jail

- - Location: 511 Water St. in downtown Savannah behind the county courthouse.

- - Size: Built in 1973 to hold 26 inmates. After adding bunks, the jail was
certified by the state to hold 38.

- - Certification: Lost certification in 1990 because of overcrowding.

- - New jail: Planned to have 200 beds. County officials are evaluating
different sites and hope to break ground within a year.