IT'S BAD, BUT WHAT CAN WE DO?'

JAIL SEEKS HELP WITH OVERFLOW

At 6-15 per cell, some York inmates sleep on concrete or sitting up

YORK - Eight years after the York County Detention Center opened to ease
overcrowding in the old county jail, the facility is showing signs it needs
expanding soon.

The main housing units are so full that inmates are spilling into temporary
holding cells not designed for overnight stays, jail staff said. The cells,
located in the jail's booking area, don't have commodes and aren't large
enough for each inmate to have a mattress. With six to 15 people crammed in
a cell, inmates must sleep on the concrete floors or sleep sitting up.

Assistant jail administrator Ralph Misle said he has received complaints
from inmates and their families, but, he said, the staff's hands are tied.

"Those poor people in booking are just out of luck, basically," he said.
"It's bad, but what can we do? We have no choice."

York County Sheriff Bruce Bryant is asking the County Council to approve
$24,000 to add 24 beds to the jail. While the addition would help alleviate
the crowding and wouldn't require additional officers, it would still leave
the jail about three dozen beds short if the jail population remains as high
as it has been.

The Detention Center has 256 inmate beds. Bryant said that when the jail
opened in 1995, it housed about 160 inmates. But over the last year, the
jail's population has averaged about 320 inmates. In April, it hit a high of
333 inmates, according to jail records.

The problem marks an uncomfortable -- if not inevitable -- milestone for the
Detention Center, which for years has breezed through state inspections
without serious violations. But during the state's most recent annual
inspection, the center was cited for allowing inmates housed in the jail's
medical unit to sleep on the floor, Misle said.

Several factors have contributed to the crowding. Bryant said the creation
of a countywide drug unit has resulted in more arrests for serious drug
crimes. Faced with more serious charges, defendants have a difficult time
paying the higher bonds that would allow them to get out of jail while
awaiting trial.

A recent spate of murders involving multiple suspects also has had an
effect, police and prosecutors said. For example, five people were charged
in October with killing a Charlotte man in York County. In February, three
people were charged with murder in the death of a Rock Hill hotel clerk.

Prosecutors also said they haven't been able to clear as many cases recently
because S.C. Court Administration has reduced the number of weeks York
County holds court. Other factors such as holidays and mandatory state
training for judges have eaten away at available courtroom time, they said.

Assistant Solicitor Willy Thompson said prosecutors are catching up, but the
court system can only work so fast.

"I can't say it's a bad thing that we have a higher percentage of our worst
criminals in the Detention Center, because at least they're not on the
street," he said. "We're trying our best to work through it ... (but) the
last thing we're going to do is compromise a prosecution just to move
someone out of the Detention Center."

While the situation is bad, it's not as bad as consultants had predicted.
Consultants who studied the county's population and crime patterns projected
in 1989 that the jail would have 249 inmates in 1995, and 326 in 2000. The
jail did not reach 326 inmates until March of this year.

To accommodate the anticipated population boom, the jail's designers built
in room for extra beds and building additions. Physical expansion of the
building will not be needed for several more years, although those
discussions have begun, jail administrator John Short said.

Misle said if the County Council approves the request next month, the jail
would probably receive the new beds in September. In the meantime, he said,
staff will try to make inmates more comfortable by putting a few mattresses
on the floors inside the booking cells.

"There won't be enough for each person, but at least they won't be on the
floor."