SHERIFF WARNS JAIL OVERCROWDING NOW AT 'DANGEROUS LEVEL

COFFEE COUNTY - The prison population of the Coffee County Jail is at
a "dangerous level," Sheriff Steve Graves said, and he is asking
county officials to take action to ease the problem.

The peak official capacity for the jail is 192, but as of this past
week the population was at 270.

In a letter to county officials, Graves proposes either adding to the
present jail or building a new jail.

The letter from Graves to County Mayor Ray Johnson was read at the recent
meeting of the Coffee County Commission's Budget and Finance Committee:
"Today, the jail population is 270 plus. This population continues to grow
and has become a danger to the employees. The Sheriff's Department has three
and sometimes four corrections officers working per shift; this is far under
state mandates for this population.

"The corrections officers are charged with the task of booking and
searching each inmate that comes in and answering questions from the
public, and these tasks alone require one sometimes two employees to
be in the control room and not in the back supervising inmates.

"In addition, we have the workhouse to supervise, which was not a
problem as long as the population stayed within our certification
numbers. The state prison system is overcrowded; we send the inmates
with state time to the prisons when they will accept them but even
when they accept them it only amounts to one to six inmates at a time.

"We have reached the point that we must have ideas to solve the
overcrowding problem. Please consider the options of building on the
existing jail or the construction of a new jail. We also need to
increase the staff level to insure the safety of both inmates and the
employees. "Please let me know if there is anything else I need to do.
I am available to meet with you and the county commissioners to
discuss this matter further." Commentiing further Thursday, Graves
said cots have been purchased to be used by the inmates but still they
are basically "on top of each other." "It's at a dangerous level,"
Graves said of the prison population, with three corrections officers
having to look after 270 inmates, which goes against state mandates,
as the letter stated.

The rising population of the local area is one factor, Graves said.
The arrests are mostly local, and many are drug-related, he added. "We
don't see it lessening in the near future," he said. Asked by The News
to comment Friday, Johnson said, "It's pretty obvious with the number
over there we're going to have to do something about it. "He (sheriff)
and I have talked about a second workhouse," Johnson added. Both
Graves and Johnson said the matter would likely be discussed at the
next meeting of the county Law Enforcement Committee.