The Vance County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hear a report about the recent state inspection of the county jail at their meeting Monday, Jan. 10.
Although the biannual inspection contained numerous findings regarding the state of the facility, the director’s report indicates that all deficiencies have either been corrected or are close to being corrected.
Vance County Detention Director Maj. John Shelton prepared a three-page response to the inspection, which was conducted on Dec. 1, 2021 by an inspector from N.C. Health and Human Services.
Most of the findings have to do with the actual jail building and include issues like peeling paint, rusty vents in cells and damaged glass. Sheriff Curtis R. Brame told WIZS News that the county just needs a new detention center.
“The one that serves our county is old, outdated, antiquated and unsafe for both staff and detainees,” Brame said in an email.
The peeling paint and rusty vents are both the result of condensation on exterior walls, Shelton noted in his report. “Over the years, the mildew has been painted over rather that the source being eliminated. That has caused the paint to bubble up and peel away,” the report stated.
Dehumidifiers have been placed throughout the facility and the plan is to install a vent fan to pull moisture out, as well as address any air flow issues. Once the moisture problem has been fixed, the walls will be scraped and re-painted. But that work will have to be contracted out because the jail has no maintenance person and there currently are no “suitable trustees to help,” the report stated.
Staffing shortages are the result of another finding by the state inspector in the supervision category. Regulations state that inmates be observed “at least two times within a 60-minute period on an irregular basis with not more than 40 minutes between rounds.”
A records review during the inspection found that this was not the case on at least one occasion.
The sheriff’s office report said there are not enough detention officers available to make sure each squad is fully staffed. Three squads have only three detention officers and a fourth squad only has two. The authorized staffing level is seven per squad.
“We have been offering paid overtime to detention officers and deputies to fill some of the vacant blocks of time, particularly at night and on the weekends,” Shelton stated in the report. A lieutenant has been put in charge of monitoring the rounds and taking disciplinary action when necessary.
Other issues that were identified are:
- Inoperable fixtures, but Shelton said that the lights in the female dorm had not been turned on at the switch. “Once those lights were switched on, they worked as designed.” The bulbs that are not working in Segregation Cell 3 will be changed once the bits arrive that are needed to unscrew the bolts of the tamper-proof fixture, the report stated.
- Perry Glass will install new Lexan to replace the damaged laminated glass in Segregation Cell 1.
- A missing ceiling tile in a storage area has been replaced.
- An outside camera is not working, and Shelton noted that it had been damaged in a storm. The camera vendor has been contacted.
- Dieticians at Maria Parham Health have been contacted to consult with planning menus for detainees.