INMATE COMPLAINTS ABUNDANT AS CONDITIONS DETERIORATE

DUNCAN (AP) - Marvin L. Brown peers through the food tray slot at a
Stephens County Jail cell, a space meant for 12 that he shares with 20 others.

"These are the worst conditions ... dirty stools; dirty, rusted showers
with water on the floor and people have to sleep on the floor," Brown said.
"We don't get no towels or toilet paper or nothing."

Shouting, so he could be heard over the others in the cell, Brown said he
has parasites and has not been allowed to have medical attention as he
awaits trial on burglary and larceny charges.

Stephens County Sheriff Jimmie Bruner said she has looked into Brown's
medical complaints and determined them to be unfounded, but she said some
of his other complaints may have merit.

In 2001, state inspectors substantiated a complaint that an inmate was
molested by other inmates in the Stephens County Jail. Also substantiated
were complaints of overcrowding, leaky showers and toilets and food that
wasn't cooked properly.

While Brown finds nothing good about the Stephens County Jail, fellow
inmate John Reed thinks it isn't so bad.

Reed, who is serving five months for writing bogus checks, has been in
county jails in Texas and in the Texas state prison system.

"This jail here is the best ... no TV, but it's still one of the best," he
said.

A total of 211 jail complaints were filed statewide in 2001.

Don Garrison, director of the jail inspection division at the Health
Department, said that each complaint represents grievances of a particular
inmate on a certain date. For example, if an inmate complained about eight
different things at one time, this would be considered as a single complaint.

Oklahoma County, the largest county jail system in the state, had 16
complaints. Sequoyah County, on the border with Arkansas, had 11, while
Jackson, Bryan and Okmulgee counties had 10 each.

At the Bryan County Jail in Durant, near the Texas border, inspectors
substantiated complaints filed by prisoners or family members of faulty
wiring, filthy cells, bed bugs, head lice and a jailer who abused female
prisoners. But inspectors could not substantiate allegations of no medical
care, missing personal property and not enough food.

In 2001, state inspectors investigated three complaints at the Beckham
County Jail, in the western portion of the state. They substantiated
complaints of mold in cells that caused prisoners to have severe headaches,
insufficient hot water, food service personnel not maintaining personal
hygiene and no medical screening.

Complaints of no special diets, not enough toilet paper and no evacuation
plan couldn't be verified.

In the Creek County Jail, in the eastern part of the state, inspectors
found there was carbon monoxide in the jail, cockroaches and other bugs
that bit inmates at night and mold on the walls. Inspectors also
substantiated complaints that inmates were denied medical treatment and
prisoners were beaten by other prisoners.

Garrison said inmates bring on some of the conditions they complain about.

"For an example, we have a lot of complaints about sewers backing up and
stools overflowing with raw sewage on the floor. But it is done by the
inmates by flushing items down the stool and then continue flushing," he said.

"They are locked up for seven days a week 24 hours a day and they don't
have anything to do, so they find things to tear up and create havoc."

Garrison said that if a complaint is substantiated, officials send the jail
a notice of violation.

If a jail remains in violation, the county can be fined or the jail forced
to close.

Sheriff Bruner said overcrowding at the jail has been a problem since
authorities started aggressively hunting down drug users and dealers
several years ago.

The jail was built in the 1960s for 56 inmates but regularly houses more
than 90. It is undergoing expansion and its capacity will be increased to
108 beds when it opens in November.

Even with a new jail on the horizon, the sheriff doesn't see any solutions
to the overcrowding or the complaints.

"There are just no magic answers," she said.