Category: All

All timeline stories.

Sullivan Jail Work Progresses

Construction of the new Sullivan County jail, located at the Blountville Bypass. is moving along steadily. The new facility is due to be completed in September and will house 213 inmates, relieving overcrowded conditions which have plagued the existing jail.

Kingsport Times-News – Construction of the new Sullivan County jail, located at the Blountville Bypass. is moving along steadily. The new facility is due to be completed in September and will house 213 inmates, relieving..Read More

Sullivan County Ordered to Take Actions at Its Jail

Bristol Herald Courier – …”We are dealing here with the bottom-line conditions of human existence. Nothing less than the dignity of man has been implicated by the offensive conditions of the Sullivan County Jail.” Read..

Conditions at Jail in Sullivan Ruled Unconstitutional

Bristol Herald Courier -…One expert said overcrowding and lack of recreation was so bad that many long-term inmates suffer severe psychological problems. And, he said, because of lack of adequate fire safety equipment and… Read..

Sullivan Jail Fails State Test

Overcrowding cited as major flaw Just two hours after Sullivan County jail officials met in Kingsport to discuss jail improvements, a state board in Nashville denied certification, blocking an increase in state aid. During their lunch meeting, some members of the county jail committee expressed hope that the facility eventually would receive state certification and, therefore, increased state funding. But at midafternoon, other officials said, the state Board of Control for the Tennessee Corrections Institute denied certification of the overcrowded jail. The main reason for denying certification to Sullivan County’s facility, said state Director of Jail Inspection Chuck Fisher, was overcrowding. Tennessee Corrections Institute minimum standards require 25 square feet per inmate. He said the Sullivan County jail workhouse has 4, the trusty and female sections 13, and another part of the jail 20 — still not good enough. : Also, 16 of the jail’s 47 sinks are inoperable, as are five of the 47 commodes. There is no lighting in some of the individual cells, and the water heating system is inadequate. At the committee meeting, Sheriff Mike Gardner said confusion resulting from the crowding was one reason convicted murderer Ronald Kaywood was able to walk out of jail Monday. He also acknowledged in a later interview that a hearing today will determine if two jail guards were guilty of any improprieties in the escape. When a new or improved jail is built, Gardner said, “security should remain a top priority.” Gardner notified the committee of a recent opinion by the state attorney general that county jails must comply with “each and every” minimum state standard, rather than a “majority” of them. The committee reviewed three options for improving the jail: revamping one of two plans the county already paid for but which were rejected by county commissioners as too costly; renovating part of the jail and adding some new sections; or a plan submitted previously by Sullivan County Attorney General Carl Kirkpatrick. “The general public has the idea that we’re trying to build a Taj Mahal, and all we're trying to do is comply with minimum standards,” Gardner said. The Sullivan County jail is one of the 59 county jails, workhouses, penal farms and detention centers that were denied certification in Thursday’s quarterly Board of Control meeting. There are 109 such facilities statewide. In other state prison action, Lt. Gov. John Wilder said a rash of escapes from state prisons has made communities less willing to accept even work camps. Wilder said residents of Wayne County are not as comfortable as they once were about the 125-bed work camp under construction in their district. “T believe 90 percent of the people down there are against this thing now,” Wilder said. The state Building Committee. of which Wilder is a member, voted Thursday to continue construction of a second work camp in Carter County. An estimated $800,000 cost overrun had delayed the project. Correction Commissioner Ernest Pellegrin announced approval had been given to build a third camp adjacent to the Lake County Regional Correctional Facility.

Kingsport Times-News – Just two hours after Sullivan County jail officials met in Kingsport to discuss jail improvements, a state board in Nashville denied certification, blocking an increase in state aid. During their lunch meeting… Read..

Sullivan Jail Overcrowding a Problem

Overcrowding at the Sullivan County Jail last weekend forced officials to shuffle inmates to city jails in Kingsport and Bristol. The game of musical inmates began when the Sullivan County Jail reached its capacity of 126 persons and more continued to arrive to serve weekend sentences for driving while intoxicated. ; During the weekend, sheriff’s deputies placed four women in the Kingsport City Jail and two others transferred to Bristol in an effort to make room for the 148 inmates who jammed into the jail. In the past, overcrowding has forced jailers to use other facilities, but jailers fear the weekend’s accommodations may be the norm for the future. Keith Westmoreland, assistant administrator for the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, said there is no light at the end of his administrative tunnel. “I don’t see any change. I think every week, we’re going to be fuller and fuller,” Westmoreland said. “The new DWI law has an awful lot to do with it,” he added. Westmoreland said in the past most DWI offenders were given probation or suspended sentences, so they never saw the inside of the jail. Reflecting that practice, Westmoreland said the average jail population on weekends was about 116 before the new DWI law. But now, he said the average is about 133 inmates each weekend. No permanent arrangements have been made with Kingsport or Bristol to house the overflow of prisoners. "They're being very nice to us," Westmoreland said. “They realize the situation we've been put in.’

Kingsport Times-News – …In the past, overcrowding has forced jailers to use other facilities, but jailers fear the weekend’s accommodations may be the norm for the future. Keith Westmoreland, assistant administrator… Read More

Sullivan Jail Crowded, Jury Says

“Extreme crowding” in the Sullivan County Jail was one of several problems listed by the county grand jury yesterday in a report to a county judge. |The grand jury, which has the power to close the jail, told Criminal Court Judge Edgar Calhoun the jail provides only 42 percent of the space required by Tennessee law. Build a new jail or expand the present one, jurors recommended. Jurors said crowded conditions at the jail caused the early release of some prisoners. Sheriff Mike Gardner said he has asked some judges for early releases for prisoners convicted of misdemeanors because of crowded conditions. “It’s a common problem today in prisons,” Gardner said. The sheriff said overcrowding wasn't restricted to cells: Deputys’ shift changes are performed in hallways, reports are written in hallways and there is a lack of locker facilities for officers. The grand jury's report to Calhoun didn’t just point out weaknesses. Sheriff’s Department employees were “commended” for their performance “in spite of the physical and financial limitations placed on them.” The jury expressed concern about manpower in the Sheriff's Department, noting that “fewer than 12 patrol officers per shift serve the 80,000 Sullivan County residents who reside outside the cities.” The report urged more money be spent on the department. Jurors sampled food at the jail and called it “good.” They said hot water problems at the jail were due to misuse of facilities by prisoners. Prisoners are “tearing up fixtures and plumbing in general,” Gardner said. The jury said they could find no solution to the hot water problems. Prisoners complained to the grand jury about inadequate medical care, but the jury reported to Calhoun that “soon after our visit a male nurse started to work at the jail. We believe that should much help the medical care problem.” Grand jurors also inspected the Sullivan County Home for the Aged and the Sullivan County Children’s Home. Both places were in satisfactory condition, jurors reported.

Kingsport Times-News – “Extreme crowding” in the Sullivan County Jail was one of several problems listed by the county grand jury yesterday in a report… Prisoners complained to the grand jury about inadequate medical care…..

Inspector Cites Jail for Filth

A state inspector found Sullivan County’s jail filthy on two visits this year. “They were cited for the walls and floors not being clean in the cell blocks and for the toilets and washbasins,” said. Colis Newble, who has the responsibility of inspecting county jails in East Tennessee. Newble visited the jail June 24 — just six days before a county grand jury report finding the same conditions was issued. “Some of the walls were defaced,” he said. “They were filthy and needed to be washed and painted. The sanitation of the toilets and washbasins is self explanatory. Newble also made “a thorough inspection of the jail” Jan. 2. Newble said Sheriff Mike Gardner or the person he names as jail administrator is responsible for cleanliness in the jail. “That would be my way of thinking,” he commented. Gardner confirmed Newble’s findings from January. “We got gigged on the personal cell areas,” he said. However, the sheriff strongly feels inmates, not deputies assigned to the jail, should clean their quarters. . “I don’t hire anyone to clean my house up, and I’m not going to spend taxpayers' dollars to clean up after the inmates,” he added. ‘‘That’s their obligation the same as it’s your obligation to clean your house.” Gardner and Keith Westmoreland, chief deputy sheriff and the person responsible for jail administration, said they have not seen Newble’s report from last month's inspection. “The inmates are given ample cleaning supplies each and every day to clean their respective cells,’ Westmoreland said. “Those cells are painted probably about four or five times a year,” Westmoreland added. “We have probably spent $1,000 on paint in the past year.” Kyle W. King, the grand jury's foreman, takes the opposite view. “Somebody's going to have to clean it,” King, a chemical engineer at Tennessee Eastman Co., said. “If he can’t get the prisoners to do it, where are you going to draw the line?” “I realize you can’t have a jail as clean as your have your home,” King said. “There were some ladies on the grand jury who were interested in cleanliness. They took the trouble to go to the Bristol (Tenn.) city jail, and they were comparing this to the Bristol city jail.” King said most of the grand jurors had “never been in a jail before.” “The grand jury report came as a complete surprise to me the way it was written,” Westmoreland said. “Every grand jury until this one which has toured this jail since 1976 (when Gardner was first elected) has given this jail a good rating in so far as the cleanliness and administration are concerned.” Overcrowding and the lack of facilities to serve inmates at the jail has been mentioned in grand jury reports dating back to 1975. State law requires the four grand juries sworn in each year to inspect the jail and other county buildings. Constant prodding about overcrowded conditions and federal court orders forcing other Tennessee counties to build new jails finally prompted county commissioners to ask Kingsport architect Allen N. Dryden Jr. for detailed plans and blueprints for remodeling and enlarging the jail to hold either 216 or 312 persons. The plans are expected to be ready by fall. The most recent grand jury report criticized other areas of the jail. It said “the kitchen as a whole needs a gound scouring from top to bottom including all pots, pans and utensils. “You could probably get five gallons of grease off the cooking utensils, grill, etc,” the report adds. Newble did not find the kitchen unsanitary. “I did not find anything grossly wrong with the kitchen facility other than citing the hood and air filter over the stove because they were dirty,” the inspector said. King also said some of the inmates “looked dirty.”

Kingsport Times-News – …Overcrowding and the lack of facilities to serve inmates at the jail has been mentioned in grand jury reports dating back to 1975… Constant prodding about overcrowded conditions and federal court orders…..

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.