Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame continues to work to correct deficiencies at the local jail, but he said the fact of the matter is this: the county needs a new detention center.
Brame addressed the Vance County Commissioners at their Aug. 1 meeting, during which the most recent jail inspection report was presented for review. And he asked commissioners to provide funding for a study to build a new detention center.
“We are in a facility that has long outgrown its needs,” Brame told WIZS News Friday. “Our detention center is antiquated and outdated,” he said, and noted safety issues – for staff and detainees alike – as a result of the condition of the physical plant.
The most recent inspection was conducted on June 14, and commissioners received the report in the August agenda packet.
The 9-page report included everything from non-functioning locks on food passage doors to dirty showers, but also detailed deficiencies in staff trainings and supervision.
Brame has responded to many of the items in a correction plan that was submitted to state jail inspectors and corrections will be verified during the next inspection.
But the overall physical condition of the jai, located at 516 Breckenridge St., looms larger for Brame. “Over 31 years ago the county decided to renovate the detention
center,” he said in a statement to WIZS. He said the renovations do not meet current standards and needs and he maintains that the jail “is unsafe for both staff and detainees.”