COUNTIES LOCKED IN JAIL WOES

Area Facilities Old And Overcrowded

Old jails in Georgia aren't just decrepit dungeons seeping mildew and
breeding discontent among inmates and jailers -- they're a county's biggest
legal liability. Even discounting the humanitarian concerns of keeping poor
inmates -- many not yet convicted of a crime -- in substandard or
overcrowded conditions, old jails pose increased risks of inmate escapes,
fights, fire hazards, even the smuggling of contraband into cells. And if
an inmate's lawsuit over jail conditions winds up in federal court, its the
taxpayers who pay. Taxpayers already are paying in three Northeast Georgia
counties -- a jail is under construction in Madison County and Oconee and
Barrow counties have set aside tax revenue for planned jails. And sheriffs
in two counties -- Jackson and Barrow -- have stopped arresting some
accused criminals on outstanding warrants because their jails are too small
to hold more people. ''The county jail is notorious for its potential to
create a lot of liability for the county,'' said Lee Harris, president of
the Georgia Jail Association. ''But oftentimes, they are going to be at the
bottom of the barrel in priority in terms of salary, staffing and
facilities.'' Harris argues that maintaining a modern jail can save a
county millions in the long term that would be spent housing inmates in
other counties and transporting them back and forth for court appearances
and medical visits. ''The public understands numbers,'' Harris said. ''The
thing they need to understand is how much it's costing us.'' Others say new
jails aren't necessarily the best solution to alleviate overcrowded or
substandard conditions. ''Before you sign a contract with an architect and
a construction firm, look at all the options,'' said John Cole Vodicka,
director of the Prison and Jail Project, a southwest Georgia inmate
advocacy group. ''There are all sorts of alternatives that could be
happening,'' including pre-trial diversion, drug courts, more diligent
defense lawyers and recognizance bonds, Vodicka said. Vodicka warns against
building jails with more beds than are needed with the intention of growing
into a facility. ''Counties will build a jail triple the size of what they
need thinking it will meet their needs in the future,'' Vodicka said.
''Then they end up filling it up.'' ''If you build it, they will fill it,''
said Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards, who vows he will not ask taxpayers
to fund major new jail construction. ''We will eventually need room, one
day,'' said Edwards, whose jail regularly runs 20 inmates or more over
capacity. ''Right now is the time to plan for the future.'' Edwards can see
making infrastructure improvements and perhaps some additions to the
338-bed facility, but says, ''I don't want to waste taxpayer money if we
don't need a new jail.'' In Oglethorpe County, Sheriff Jason Lowe says he
desperately needs a new jail to replace the antiquated, circa-1890s
seven-bed facility there. So badly, in fact, that he sued the county
commission to speed up construction of a new jail. Lowe quit using the
jail, housing his inmates in Wilkes and Hancock counties at a cost of $35 a
day. ''We'd probably be under a lawsuit'' if the jail stayed open, Lowe
said. The origins of the jail construction boom of the last decade can be
traced to the federal interventions and multimillion-dollar judgments
against counties across the country with substandard jails. Sheriffs say
they're forced to keep up with the ever-rising standards or risk being
taken to court. Then there's the ever-present overcrowding issue, a product
of overall population growth and jails where the space hasn't been expanded
accordingly. Lowe says his vocal desire for a new jail has been
misunderstood. ''People have the wrong perspective,'' he said. ''They think
this nice new jail is going to benefit the sheriff, when really and truly
it's going to improve the justice system as we know it in Oglethorpe
County.'' Lowe said a new jail will make it easier for defense lawyers to
visit clients, not to mention family members of those jailed. ''If they
want to see their loved one who's been incarcerated, they have to go to
Hancock County, which is an hour away,'' Lowe said. ''Every one of the
phone calls is long-distance.'' Not that the public has a lot of sympathy
for inmates. ''Most of the people think if you do the crime you do the
time, and you do the time no matter what the conditions of the facility,''
Vodicka said. ''One of the things we try to impress upon local officials is
that jails for the most part still hold people who are technically innocent
until proven guilty. We ought to be very concerned about what kind of
conditions these people are placed in. Should someone be exposed to
conditions that are pretty poor because they can't afford to make bond?''
One of the sheriff's primary mandates is ensuring the safety of the inmates
in his charge, and that becomes increasingly difficult in overcrowded
conditions, according to Terry Norris, executive director of the Georgia
Sheriffs' Association. ''You have to have the classification capability to
separate certain inmates from others,'' Norris said. With overcrowding,
Norris said, inmate fights increase and the ability to intercept contraband
in the jail decreases. Clarke County's sheriff agrees that overcrowding can
be a concern. ''Everybody likes their space,'' Edwards said. ''I would say
when the jail count is up, it tends to create some tension.'' Authorities
acknowledge that running a jail was a lot simpler 25, 15 or even 10 years
ago. But with each new court case comes more issues to address. ''Inmates
are a lot more aware of their rights now,'' said Harris, the Jail
Association president. ''There are plenty of attorneys willing to take up
these cases if they feel there's any deprivation of their civil rights.
You're taking more of a risk than you were 10 or 15 years ago when it comes
to substandard facilities and substandard supervision.'' ''It's a constant
work in progress,'' keeping jails up to standard, ''and I don't think it
will ever be complete,'' said Norris, whose organization employs two
full-time jail consultants. ''We'd all rather have a nice road or civic
center to enjoy, but public safety is the number one responsibility of
government,'' Norris said. ''Inmates must be treated humanely, if for no
other reason than it's going to cost local taxpayers in the long run if
they aren't.''