The Vance County Board of Commissioners approved a budget amendment Monday that will continue covering expenses for detainees held in jails outside the county and other costs stemming from challenges associated with the current state of the detention facility.
Sheriff Curtis Brame and detention center co-administrator Capt. Shannon Hawley appeared before commissioners at the regular monthly meeting to request that funding continue as the county makes decisions about repairs to the existing jail while making plans to construct a new facility.
In the spring of 2025, the state declared that the jail be depopulated – between the physical condition of the jail itself and a staffing shortage, the maximum number of detainees was slashed from more than 100 to 20.
Since that time, with improvements, repairs and better staffing, the jail houses 45 detainees. But there are 100 or more who should be housed locally but are farmed out to other jails willing to take them. That comes at a cost to the county, however.
“The county has invested an inordinate amount of money…a ridiculous amount of money,” Hawley said, but it’s necessary.
“We ask that we continue to fund housing our inmates outside the facility until a new facility can be built,” he added.
Brame said his staff is “scrambling…hurting each and every day,” adding that he worries about the safety of his officers working at the jail, as well as the safety of the detainees.
County Manager C. Renee Perry said the county has spent roughly $1.2 million since April, including $732,000 in emergency pay and $324,000 in repairs to the jail.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt said he’d visited the jail recently and sees “substantial” improvements but added there’s a long way to go. The electronic doors do not work, for example, creating a risk to personnel and to detainees.
“These are things that have got to be done…(we) don’t have a choice,” Brummitt said.
The repairs are projected to be completed in November 2026, Perry said, but noted that the jail capacity would only be 90. The problem will persist, she said, until there is a new facility.
Commissioners also approved a spending cap of $2.93 million to complete the repairs to the existing jail facility as part of the design-build concept being used to bring the jail up to speed as it moves forward with plans for new construction.
The approval places a cap on spending for the renovation/repair portion of the project at $2,938,278.
Commissioners also approved a plan submitted by the local ABC Board to remodel and expand the ABC store on Beckford Drive.
ABC Board Chair Jerry Stainback said the expansion could take up to one year to complete, but he anticipates being able to pay off any financial obligation quickly.
In 2007, when the current store was approved, the ABC Board was able to pay off the note four years early.
The plan calls for a 4,500 square-foot expansion of the current store. “We can’t pay for it all in a year, but we can get it paid in significantly less than 10 years,” Stainback predicted. He said the store does $6 million in sales each year.
Commissioners also approved an updated fiscal operations policy, which had been brought before commissioners at an earlier meeting. Commissioner Tommy Hester made the motion to approve the policy. Commissioner Brummitt voted against.
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