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Petition for Humane Conditions

County Jail Inmates Petition For Better Food, Facilities By RICK PATTERSON Times-News Staff Writer No one ever said being in jail was the good life. but how bad is it? A petition signed by 35 of the inmates of the Sullivan County Jail, about half the population, has been brought to the Times-News by an interested party. As part of his duties, he is in and out of the jail on a regular basis, and he called the conditions there “pretty bad.” For various reasons he asked to remain anonymous. The prisoners for themselves say: “This speaks for everybody serving time in Blountville jail. There are guys here that have been in here two to three months awaiting trial. “Some don't even know when their trial is or haven't been appointed a certain date for their trial “No TV or radio is allowed in this jail when most other jails have them. “They do not provide sheets or blankets “We are not allowed a store order, just candy bars. They do not allow relatives to bring us food on Sunday (regular visiting hours) or any other time. “We are fed two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. At 7 a.m. we are fed gravy, biscuits and jelly. At 4 p.m. we are fed muffins, beans and something sweet, most of the time. The most meat we see is twice a week and that is not very much (meat when they do have it.) “They will not let newspaper reporters in here. They are afraid because of the conditions in this jail. “This is verified by the signing by the prisoners of this jail.” Regarding trial dates, Carl Kirkpatrick, district attorney general, said “I can’t say that isn't happened (waiting months without having atrial date set), but I think it is unlikely.” Once a defendant has been indicted by the grand jury, he is brought before the court to be placed on the docket. “We get a jail list before the docket is sounded, and try to set those who haven't made bond at the early part of the docket. Sometimes his attorney can't go along with it,” Kirkpatrick said. If a defendant is caught between sessions of the grand jury, he could have a long wait in jail The grand jury in the past met about every six weeks, “but it’s getting to be about every month,” because of the case load. Defendants who have to wait in jail throughout the trial process are by law given credit for every day they spend in jail if they are convicted. Radio and television are used in larger jails to give the prisoners something to do with their time and give them incentive to keep their cells clean. The general practice is to move the set around the hallway according to which area is cleanest so those men can see it and decide what programs to watch. Sullivan County three or four years ago allowed inmates to have radios in their cells, according to Magistrate Bob Ammons, member of the safety committee which periodically inspects the jail. The policy was changed because prisoners abused it. They were rewiring the radios to make hotplates, Ammons said. The county was afraid someone would “get popped,” so to protect itself and the inmates, all electrical conduits, including lights, were removed from the cells. The cells are now lit from the hallways Ammons was enthusiastic about using a television set to motivate the prisoners and give them something else to think about while they were waiting out their trial or sentence. He said he would bring the idea up at the next meeting of the safety committee. Regarding the diet of the inmates, Jim Stanley, retired Air Force and head of the kitchen, said “It’s just like the military. If the men in the mess are complaining, they must be happy.” Stanley read off the menu for the coming week: fried chicken on Sunday, ribs and sauerkraut Monday, meatloaf Tuesday, beef stew “and good beef stew. I eat it myself.” Wednesday, Thursday liver, Friday fish, and baked beans and wieners Saturday. The food budget is set at $30,000 a year by the County Court, Stanley said, and generally because of increases in food costs, the jail goes over its budget. By state law the menu is submitted to the County Health Department and checked for nutritional value Only non-working inmates are fed twice a day. Those on clean-up and road crew details are fed three times a day, as are women, Juveniles and mental cases, Stanley said. The practice of allowing visitors to bring food and snacks to the prisoners was stopped because the inmates had no place to store it except in their cells. The jail was developing a bad insect problem, Stanley said Ammons said the prisoners were supposed to have blankets. The Safety Committee inspected the jail last Thursday, “and it was 75 degrees in there.” Ammons added, “I cannot answer to that right now, but I'll look into it.” Both Ammons and Stanley offered to take the media into the jail anytime. Stanley extended an invitation to dinner Ammons said, “My job is to protect both the county and the prisoners. The more we can do, the better off we will all be. But there’s only so much we can do with X-amount of dollars, what's your priority?”

Kingsport Times-News – ..,A petition… has been brought to the Times-News by an interested party. As part of his duties, he is in and out of the jail on a regular basis, and he called..

Jail Labeled ‘Substandard’

Jail Labeled ‘Substandard’ The Sullivan County Grand Jury reported Monday that it found the county jail in a “substandard” condition during a routine visit last Thursday. Jurors said they returned to the jail the following day, saw the condition had not been corrected, and “confronted” Sheriff Bill Wright with the situation. Wright blamed inadequate sanitation conditions on the fact that the jail doesn’t have a laundry, and prisoners have to furnish their own clothes, jurors said. The jury said it found that cell blocks need extensive repairing, especially electrical wiring and plumbing, which has been torn from the walls. (A makeshift dagger, found recently in a prisoner’s cell, was made from a section of commode tubing). Wright said he would try to correct the condition, and extensive clean-up program was underway when they returned Monday, jurors said. Prisoners were in a better mood after the cells were cleaned, although there were several complaints about lack of hot water, the jury reported. Recommendations by the Grand Jury included: — cells should be cleaned at least three times a week; — floors and walls should be scrubbed once a week; — obscene photographs and literature should be banned from cells; — each cellblock should receive one newspaper per day, and before another newspaper is issued, the old one should be removed. —no tin cans or bottles should be allowed in the cells, and prisoners should be switched to different cellblocks occasionally. The jurors said Wright agreed to comply with the recommendations as soon as possible. Jurors pointed out that inmates appeared well fed and morale was as high “as could be expected.” The jury found other county offices in order and had special praise for the cleanliness of the Kingsport and Bristol city jails. This was the most extensive Grand Jury tour in county history; it lasted three days.

Kingsport Times – The Sullivan County Grand Jury reported Monday that it found the county jail in a “substandard” condition during a routine visit last Thursday. Jurors said they returned to the jail the following..

Grand Jury Scores Jail Conditions

Grand Jury Scores Jail Conditions Sullivan County’s Grand Jury went visiting Thursday and found the county jail ‘‘dirty,” but all other county offices in good condition. The jury, in a five-page report, said the jail cells were particularly dirty, and that some kitchen equipment needed repairing. It said new equipment, already ordered, is "badly needed and should be installed as soon as possible.” The panel recommended an improvement in daily cleaning of the jail. It criticized the practice of placing mental patients in cells with other prisoners, and recommended that County Judge Lon V. Boyd appoint a committee to investigate the handling of mental patients and to develop a plan for giving them better security and housing.

Kingsport Times – Sullivan County’s Grand Jury went visiting Thursday and found the county jail ‘‘dirty,” but all other county offices in good condition. The jury, in a five-page report, said the jail cells were..

Hunger Strike in Jail

To Protest Conditions Sullivan Jail Prisoners Go On ‘Hunger Strike’ Twenty prisoners at the Sullivan County Jail at Blountville apparently not appeased by the county’s promise to appoint a non-partisan committee to keep an impartial watch over the jail, have started a hunger strike. Sheriff Bill Wright said 20 of the jail's 64 prisoners have not accepted food since Monday. “We slip their trays to them, and they just push them back,” he said. Wright said, however, that jailer George Love noted that “a few biscuits were gone” when he picked up the refused trays. The prisoners action was the culmination of a series of complaints over the past year. “A bunch of them stomped out a lot of plumbing about a month ago, so some of their privileges were taken away,” said Wright. The prisoners Were protesting the loss of television sets and radios, with some saying the sheriff's department even had refused to allow their families to bring them Easter dinners over the weekend. The cutoff of the Easter food evidently gave the prisoners the idea of going on the hunger strike. “The ringleaders of this thing are guys who have nothing to lose. Convicted felons who are awaiting the results of their legal appeals,” said Wright. “They're having a ball up there — whooping, hollering, and singing.” Several of the prisoners recently wrote to County Judge Lon Boyd and Criminal Court Judge John Byers, asking for public airings of their complaints. The judges denied the request for such hearings. The hearing request included this appeal: “We ask that the public bear in mind that a majority of the inmates here are convicted of no crime, but are only waiting for the courts to act. These men are being ‘punished’ for the crime of being too poor to post bail. We sincerely believe that most of the restrictions placed upon us by the sheriff's department amount to nothing more than harassment and persecution for the audacity of pleading not guilty or perhaps refusing to show respect to a few persons who do not act respectable. Some of the staff (sheriff's department workers) would like to give fair and humane treatment but have been threatened with suspension from their job.” Wright denied the allegation that his men have been threatened with suspension for treating the prisoners with kindness. “There are some of them (prisoners) that just can't be handled with kid gloves, though,” he said. The letter, signed by 25 prisoners. also said they were the subject of a major "shakedown" after their grievances became publicly known. ‘The inmates contended deputies had confiscated all their reading material, food, playing cards, watches, belts. billfolds, toilet articles and even paper bags and boxes used for storing clothing. “One man was put in the ‘hole’ for the infamous crime of possessing a transistor radio, said the prisoners. “He had a broken leg at the time which had not been treated. Another guv was put in the hole for some unexplained reason. These men were among a group which have the effrontery to ask for enough decent food to live on.” Late last week county officials had agreed to ask Sullivan County Court to appoint an impartial Jail Commission, to be composed of three persons who would visit the jail regularly and file written reports about the condition of the jail and its inmates. State law permits the formation of such a commission. Judge Boyd, Attorney General Carl Kirkpatrick, and Sheriff Wright will select the three persons to serve on such a commission, subject to approval by the magistrates. But this is a time-consuming procedure, the inmates have indicated, and they want action now.

Bristol Herald Courier – …a majority of the inmates here are convicted of no crime, but are… being ‘punished’ for the crime of being too poor to post bail… for the audacity of pleading not guilty…..

Rats Thrive On Jailhouse Sewage

Kingsport Times – …The pumphouse sits atop the completely full cesspool; the exposed raw sewage inside teems with millions of maggots, less than 50 feet from the jailhouse kitchen… Read More

Bids Open for New $200,000 Jail

Sullivan Jail Bids Opening This Morning Bids for erection of the new $200,000 Sullivan County jail will be opened at 10 o'clock this morning in the office of the county purchasing agent at Blountville. The plans for the new jail were completed recently by Milton P. Robelot, Kingsport architect. General contract for construction of the building and the contract for furnishing and installing jail equipment will be let under separate contracts. The new building will be a two-story, concrete and brick modern structure. It will be erected. at the immediate rear of the county courthouse at Blountville and will replace the inadequate and antiquated jail building some distance at the rear from the courthouse.

Bristol Herald Courier – …The new building will be a two-story, concrete and brick modern structure. It will be erected at the immediate rear of the county courthouse at Blountville and will replace the inadequate..

People Vote in Favor of New Jail

Loser---One Dilapidated Jail Prominent Among Losers in the county balloting was the dilapidated old jail structure at Blountville. County Court gave "tentative" commitment prior to the voting, to abide by wishes of Sullivan people should they express a desire for a new county jail by voting “yes” to an appropriation of $200,000 for the purpose in a referendum held in connection with the county general election. Most magistrates, in a recent poll, expressed willingness to appropriate for a new jail if the people wanted it. The referendum called for a special tax to be levied to produce the money.

Sullivan County News – …County Court gave “tentative” commitment prior to the voting, to abide by wishes of Sullivan people should they… [vote] “yes” … in a referendum held in connection with the county general..

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