June 28, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
Although the county will have to continue pursuing a long term plan of action for addressing structural deficiencies, the state has given state certification approval for the DeKalb County Jail and Annex again this year.
In a letter to Sheriff Patrick Ray and County Mayor Tim Stribling earlier this month, William Wall, Executive Director of the Tennessee Corrections Institute (TCI) wrote that “the Tennessee Corrections Institute’s Board of Control voted on June 9 to approve the certification of your facility with the Plan of Action submitted by your attorney. Please remember to send in your monthly status and numbers”.
As part of that plan of action, the county must have a needs assessment or “feasibility” study done by CTAS (County Technical Assistance Service) as recommended by Bob Bass, TCI Deputy Director , who met with members of the county commission on March 31.
Sheriff Ray plans to ask the commission Monday night to authorize the study at no cost to the county. “CTAS will do the study of the jail and as Mr. Bass has told us without them (CTAS) going in and looking they can’t give us definite answers. I have talked to Jim Hart of CTAS and he has agreed to come and do a feasibility study but CTAS wants the county commission to go on record to allow that study to happen as part of our plan of action,” said Sheriff Ray during a committee of the whole county commission meeting Thursday night, June 24.
In the fall of 2019, the county entered into a partnership with TCI and CTAS to develop a plan of action to show measurable progress in rectifying deficiencies to keep the jail and annex certified.
Although no measurable progress has to be shown this year to maintain jail certification due to continuing COVID 19 concerns, Bass said the problems will eventually have to be solved.
“The particular standards you are in trouble with are physical plant. How the jail was built. It has nothing to do with what the sheriff’s department has done or the staff when it comes to operation. In fact its one of the cleanest jails I have been in. Even the part you shouldn’t be operating (the oldest building) is clean and well organized. You are not overcrowded. You just don’t meet TCI standards in some areas,” he said.
The oldest building, which has been in operation since 1959 and houses prisoners in its basement, poses perhaps the greatest concern.
“That basement has no natural light. You must have skylight. Windows that produce natural light. You must have an 8 foot ceiling height. Your basement ceiling is 7 feet, 6 inches. Its not sprinkled. Sprinklers are not part of our standards unless you are building a new facility but old facilities like yours are not grandfathered in and you have a cage down there which serves as a makeshift cell for trustees with a 12 inch gap on top of it. That is unauthorized housing. An inmate could come over that gap and have access to appliances, water heater, chemicals, etc,” said Bass.
The basement cells each have 10 beds but the square footage only exists for six inmates and while the cells have porcelain sinks and toilets the state requires they be stainless steel. The cells also have no floor drains and conduit is exposed.
Cells for females in another part of the jail have similar issues.
As for the jail annex, which has been in operation since 2001, there are 46 beds with adequate space for only 32 inmates.
According to Bass new and existing facilities must have at least a minimum size multiple-occupancy cell for 2-64 occupants with twenty-five (25) square feet of clear floor space for each occupant in the sleeping areas, and a ceiling elevation of not less than eight (8) feet. At least thirty-five (35) square feet of clear floor space must be provided for each occupant when the occupant is confined for more than ten (10) hours per day.
Bass suggested that the county authorize a needs assessment study as the next step in the process of bringing the jail and annex up to standards.
“We have identified what our problems are and must now figure out a way to come up with a solution. You don’t have to be in a hurry. We’re here to help and we will get you through this. My suggestion is to reconvene and start strategizing about what options you have. You can’t do anything about the basement in the old jail building. You will have to come out of that basement. It could be used for storage but not for housing inmates. A needs assessment needs to be performed. Take a look at your growth and see how many beds you need. We want to help you fix the problems but until we get them fixed I am going to fight to keep you certified. That’s my job. I will go in front of the board and plead your case,” said Bass.