Overcrowding: Jail’s biggest hurdle
A new Sullivan County committee hopes to find a solution to overcrowding at the Blountville jail by January 2015.
In September, the Tennessee Corrections Institute recommended decertification of Sullivan County’s jail due to crowding and procedural problems.
Sheriff Wayne Anderson and Mayor Richard Venable went to the institute’s Board of Control to deter the organization’s recommendation.
“The TCI comes in and inspects the jail once a year,” Anderson said. “If they find a problem, they are going to bring it to your attention.”
The TCI’s audit of the jail included a few problems.
“We were subject to maybe losing our certification because of these issues,” Anderson said. “We went down there and corrected the biggest part. The biggest thing we couldn’t correct is overcrowdedness.”
Because several issues were corrected, the TCI said it would be satisfied if the county creates a committee to improve crowding issues.
The jail ad hoc committee met for the first time Wednesday, with the goal of retaining certification from the TCI. The committee determined that it would research the problems and develop recommendations for the county commission by January, just in time for budget sessions in 2015 and TCI’s annual visit.
Major Greg Simcox, a committee member, said TCI had found some policy issues with jail procedures during its last visit.
For example, Simcox said, Sullivan County’s written policy said people on suicide watch had to be checked every 15 minutes.
“There’s no way that we could ever get that done, but TCI doesn’t require us to check them every 15 minutes,” Simcox said.
Jail administration has adjusted the policy. The administration also has improved its logging procedures regarding
whether staff check on inmates physically or by camera.
TCI also found fault in prisoner physicals.
“Everyone that comes into the jail has to have a physical within 14 days,” Simcox said. “We had six inmates that didn’t have one.”
The timing of physicals is currently up-to-date, he added.
Simcox noted that the jail processes between 8,500 and 9,000 people a year.
“Over the last three years, our jail has been operating above capacity,” he said.
TCI also requires a certain amount of space per inmate. Sullivan County’s cells for women are not large enough, Simcox said.
The county has looked at moving women to the jail’s extension, but the extension was designed: for men and would cost about $250,000 to renovate, Simcox said.
Anderson said the county also has worked with ankle bracelets and other programs. to decrease the jail population.
Such programs depend on the judge’s approval.
With 623 total beds, the jail had 620 inmates Wednesday. The jail has had up to 800 inmates.
The ad hoc committee, which will look at various ways to decrease the jail population, includes Anderson, Simcox, Venable, Bill Kilgore, Sherry Grubb, Cheryl Russell, Mark Bowery and Hoyt Denton.
Denton, who was appointed chairman, said he is looking forward to learning about the jail and discussing the issues. Denton suggested the committee meet twice a month.
