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Jail Number has Reached ‘Critical’ Mass

Bristol Herald Courier – Sullivan County’s jail has a capacity of 317 inmates, but on July 19 it reached an all-time high population of 507 — including 56 female inmates housed in a space designed..

Sullivan County Needs New Jail

Sullivan County needs a new jail, a grand jury reported after visiting the facility and finding crowded cells, cramped offices and an air-conditioning system that was not working. “As past grand juries have reported, the need for a new Sullivan County jail is blatantly obvious,” the panel said in the report, made public record Thursday at the end of the grand jurors’ six months of service. The grand jury toured the 10-year-old jail June 26 and was told by officers, according to the report, that the air conditioning had been out for days and would not be fixed for a week or longer due to a lack of funding. But the panel interceded, it said. Grand jury foreman Arthur Salyer contacted County Commissioner Eddie Williams and found that emergency funds could be used to fix the system. “We strongly suggest that routine service on the air conditioning be upgraded to prevent such an outage in the future,” the grand jurors said. “One officer reported to us that the inmates were becoming irritable (due to the heat), and there was concern for how their behavior could deteriorate during this time.” A previous grand jury reported crowded conditions, cracked walls and an inoperable fire-alarm system. It said inmates were sleeping on the floor on mattresses because not enough beds were available. Six months later, another panel said the jail remained crowded but that repairs had been made. The report Thursday said the jail needs more office space, more computerization and more cells for inmates of both genders. Despite its problems, the grand jury said it found the facility to be in “good order and clean,” said its personnel “were courteous and helpful” and commented that an inmate gardening program aimed at growing food for meals had saved the county between $25,000 and $30,000 last year.

Bristol Herald Courier – Sullivan County needs a new jail, a grand jury reported after visiting the facility and finding crowded cells, cramped offices and an air-conditioning system that was not working… Read More

No Room in the Jail

Sullivan County sheriff says ‘get tough on crime’ measures require more space Jail bays designed to hold a mere 16 inmates are crammed full of extra cots. Everywhere you look, there are people living within a few feet of each other — sprawled out reading, smoking cigarettes or listening to music. And while officials admit jail is not supposed to be a pleasant experience, Sullivan County’s lockup is virtually bursting at the seams. The jail is at, near or even over capacity almost all the time and the problem is at its worst on the weekends. Sullivan County’s jail has a capacity of 321 inmates including the jail annex behind the main facility, according to Chief Jack Sheppard of the Sullivan County Sheriffs Department. However, in February, the jail was overpopulated for seven days, and the jail population has hit 380 in the past six months. Those kinds of numbers have Sullivan County Sheriff Keith Carr worried about an impending overcrowding crisis like the one the county suffered four years ago. And with the “get tough on crime” mentality taking hold on a state level, Carr does not see the jail’s population decreasing anytime soon. The main problem — as Carr and Sheppard see it — is the Tennessee Department of Correction’s lack of bed space for its inmates. Because of overcrowding in the state prison system, many defendants sentenced to prison time by Sullivan County’s judges are serving much of their sentences at the local jail, Carr said. At one point last week, of the jail’s approximately 300 inmates, about 100 of them were actually TDOC prisoners waiting for a bed in the prison system, Carr said. That problem eased slightly when 17 of those inmates were transferred to the state system late last week, but inmate numbers could again soar over the weekend. “Once you are tried, convicted, sentenced and the papers signed, you should be the state’s responsibility,” Carr said. “By 1996, we've been told to expect overcrowding to be as bad if not worse than it was four years ago in the state prisons and the local jails.” Overcrowded conditions put a tremendous strain on corrections officers and sometimes even pose a security risk, Carr said. At one point, the Sullivan County Jail’s maximum-security wing was home to 17 armed robbers at the same time, Carr said, calling it an example of potential problems. And while the entire jail is tottering on the edge of a population crisis, overcrowding is already a fact of life in the women’s cell block. This weekend, 24 women were housed in a facility designed for no more than 20, and the population has climbed as high as 32 in recent weeks, Sheppard said. Plans are in the works to expand the women’s unit at the jail to house more inmates and to allow them to be classified according to their charges, Carr said. Currently, there is no way to separate women charged with violent felonies from women serving time on misdemeanor charges like driving under the influence, Carr said. “Were seeing women charged with armed robbery, murders, dealing drugs. It’s a variety of crime we didn’t see in this area,” Carr said. “But it is being addressed by the (Sullivan County) building committee.” Along with the plans to expand the Sullivan County facility, Carr pointed out that something must be done on the state level. The only way to avert a crisis will be the construction of more state prisons, Carr said. At least one new penitentiary is in the state budget for the coming year, Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist confirmed during a Kingsport appearance Friday to stump for his crime package. Sundquist said dealing with crime is a financial priority for the state and prison construction is part of that plan. “We are not going to have any capital construction next year except for a penitentiary,” Sundquist said. “We have money to expand (the prisons) and to have double celling (two inmates in one cell), We think prisoners shouldn’t be comfortable in prison.” If that occurs, it will sit well with Sullivan County officials, who see more prison construction as the only solution to the crisis. “This is not a Tennessee prison. Tennessee prisoners should be housed in a Tennessee prison,” Carr said of the jail. “My desire is to see the legislators who are talking tough on crime build more prisons.”

Bristol Herald Courier – …At least one new penitentiary is in the state budget for the coming year… If that occurs, it will sit well with Sullivan County officials, who see more prison construction as..

Women Crowd the Jail

Sullivan County Jail faces ongoing overcrowding of female prisoners and must alleviate the situation, Sheriff Keith Carr told county commissioners Monday night. "I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel as far as reducing the population" of female inmates, Carr said. "There’s no room at the inn," Carr told the Administrative Committee of County Commission. "There’s simply no place to put the females." The committee, which is charged with overseeing jail operations, responded by voting 6-0 with one absent to recommend approval of a resolution that would study the problem and come up with a recommendation on how to solve it. The proposal will go before the Executive and Budget committees this week, and the full commission Jan. 18. "The female facility at the Sullivan County Jail is designed for a maximum occupancy of 20 prisoners and we have routinely housed 27 to 28 female prisoners," Carr said in a prepared statement. "Usually, 12 to 14 of these females are felons." Of those 12 to 14, Carr said that seven or eight are women already convicted of felonies but unable to be moved elsewhere because of limited space for females in state prisons. "Statewide, we desire to put people in jail for their crimes but we don’t desire to build the facilities," Carr said. Added jail space is also needed for laundry facilities because of poor ventilation in the current laundry room, county Purchasing Agent Joe Mike Akard said. Commissioner Craig Rockett of Bristol said he had read that Knox County was housing some prisoners in school buildings, but Carr said that would require hiring more staff and ultimately be more expensive than other alternatives. Carr said the situation is caused partly by sentencing reform that made former felony convictions into misdemeanor convictions, putting prisoners into county jails instead of state prisons. Also, he said more females are committing felonies and that Tennessee has a shortage of prison capacity for female prisoners. Brought into the jail are those arrested in Sullivan County, including those arrested by the Sheriffs Department, Bristol Tennessee Police, Bluff City Police and some by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and Kingsport Police. Kingsport has its own holding facility used for up to 48 hours per inmate. "The Tennessee Corrections Institute and the federal courts require segregation of felons — armed robbers, murderers from misdemeanants — shoplifters, DUIs, etc. We are not able to satisfy this requirement with the continuing increasing population problem,” Carr said. Carr lauded judges in the county for working with officials to keep overcrowding to a minimum and said that state officials have helped with male and female overcrowding as best as they can with limited resources. "We've rarely been able to get females into the (state) institution in the past year," Carr said. "It certainly has a trickle-down effect. The problem certainly cannot be erased." The committee voted to support a resolution to be written by Chairwoman Margaret DeVault of Bristol but sponsored by Carol Belcher of Blountville and seconded by Ron Reedy of Kingsport. The measure would have County Executive John McKamey appoint a committee to study the problem and determine if an in-house or outside study should be conducted on how to fix the problem. "Most probably the county will ask for multiple outside studies," Carr said after the meeting. Members are to include Carr or a member of his staff, Akard and possibly county commissioners. McKamey said state corrections officials might also participate, and Carr said federal prison officials are available on a limited basis for advice. Voting for the measure were Belcher, Rockett, Michael Surgenor of Bloomingdale, Reedy, Marvin Hyatt of Piney Flats and Harold Childress of Kingsport. Mike Rutherford of Friendship was absent.

Bristol Herald Courier – Sullivan County Jail faces ongoing overcrowding of female prisoners and must alleviate the situation, Sheriff Keith Carr told county commissioners Monday night…”There’s no room at the inn,”… Read More

Sullivan Jail Time Becoming ‘By Reservation Only’

Kingsport Times-News – The “terrible delimma” is having a jail complex that is designed to hold 317 prisoners but [must]… accommodate up to 380… “‘We, as judges, don’t want to use deferred sentencing, but we..

Jailers Find Stress to be Inescapable

Kingsport Times-News – At top… Allison Mechem tours the women’s cell block of the Sullivan County Jail… Deputy Steve Hinkle, bottom, fingerprints Mechem to display part of the “booking-in” process… Read More

County Executive Views Situation as Vicious Cycle

Speak the words "overcrowded jail" and Sullivan County leaders have plenty of things to say. County Executive Keith Westmoreland likes to describe the ensuing discussion as a "gripe session" and it isn’t long before one understands why. At best, Westmoreland sees the county heading toward the same problems it experienced before construction of the $6 million county jail when the old jail faced severe overcrowding, and no immediate help from the state was in sight. "It’s a vicious cycle," Westmoreland said Friday. ‘"It’s the same situation with the old jail; we'll be back in federal court for overcrowding." "Then what are we going to do, build another jail?" Westmoreland said. The county jail continues to be filled to capacity — with a once-deemed "temporary" jail annex still in full operation — and the county sees no slack in boarding state prisoners. By his own admission, Westmoreland has long "raised cain" to legislators about matters such as the state's decision to place a cap on funding to counties for board bills, but the expenses don’t stop there. Medical expenses for inmates are always high and the county continually faces lawsuits filed by state prisoners. The lawsuits usually focus on complaints about their housing in the county jail. "They (state inmates) have no access to the luxuries they would have," Westmoreland said about inmates the county is required to house. Also, the county must pay for additional personnel to oversee operation of the jail annex which stays full, Westmoreland said. About 110 state inmates were housed in the county jail last week, "We've got plenty of other expenses than holding and feeding," Westmoreland said. Westmoreland finds fault with state policy that requires prisoners to stay overnight in a hospital before providing funding reimbursement. "The Tennessee Corrections Department is trying to make crooks out of everybody," Westmoreland said. County Commissioner Bob Ammons agreed Friday that fellow commissioners, for the most part, carry some resentment against the state for their continual jail dilemma. "Why should we on the local level be required to pay for state prisoners?" Ammons said. “The state should take care of its own,’’ Ammons said. Commenting on the state cap on board bills, Westmoreland said, "We don’t want their money, we want them to take their people." "It irritates the commissioners, but we're powerless," Ammons said. "The state needs to stop throwing the burden on the property tax," he said.

Bristol Herald Courier – …“It’s a vicious cycle,” Westmoreland said Friday. ‘”It’s the same situation with the old jail; we’ll be back in federal court for overcrowding.” “Then what are we going to do, build..

Sullivan’s new jail crowded

Kingsport Times-News – …At the time the commission was planning for the jail it thought it was allowing room for seven to 10 years’ growth. “The population that is being held is much larger than..

County Enters New Era with Dedication of Jail

Kingsport Times-News – …Saturday, the county dedicated its new 221-bed, 55,000 square-foot jail… DeVault said she expects the jail ‘‘to be a solution to many of the problems that have plagued the sheriff and the..

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