By Richard Sullins | richard@rantnc.com
The Lee County Board of Commissioners should receive a report on May 6 outlining options the county may have as it begins to look at the current and future needs of its jail on South Horner Boulevard that is now three decades old.
The commissioners voted last fall to authorize a feasibility study by Moseley Architects of Raleigh to look at the effectiveness, efficiency, structural integrity, security, and capacity requirements for the facility that was built in the early 1990s. Moseley was selected, in part, because of their recent experience in designing detention centers in Harnett and Orange counties.
Lee County’s population was about 41,000 when the Lee County jail was built (it’s about 66,000 today) and its design fit the county’s needs as they existed then. But today, it suffers from overcrowding, outdated technology, and other issues seen at similar facilities across the state, including the smuggling of illegal drugs among inmates.
As a result, space that was available for multiple purposes when the structure was built has slowly had to be claimed for other uses and the building has since lost much of the flexibility it had when it was new. The commissioners authorized the expenditure of about $200,000 in October to improve video camera coverage within the building as a stopgap measure until decisions could be made on what to do with the current facility.
The facility has space for about 125 inmates who are held in custody as they await trial or sentencing. Others are there serving a sentence of up to two years. It contains a mixture of minimum, medium, and maximum security, as well as special housing units and a female dormitory.
The commissioners approved a $58,000 contract for the study with Moseley in October, but turnover within the company got the project off to a slow start. An additional $11,275 was added to the project on April 1 at the request of Sheriff Brian Estes to include a review of the facilities needs of his office as a part of the project. The sheriff told commissioners he feels strongly his office needs to be located where the inmates are kept.
Moseley has informed county staff it has completed work on bed projections and engineering assessments. Its final report is expected to include site renderings and cost estimates.
What to expect
The planning documents that will be presented to the commissioners are expected to be wide-ranging in scope. Beyond looking at just the deficiencies of the current space, the study will also include studies of the demographics of the county’s inmate population over the past few years in order to provide a basis for projecting the numbers and types of beds that will be needed as Lee County continues to grow. Those numbers will help them identify trends to help forecast the jail’s future needs.
It is also expected to include detailed analysis and recommendations for dealing with the medical needs of inmates held in custody, including mental health and behavioral concerns. The commissioners have made mental health a point of emphasis in Lee County over the past few years and it’s expected that Moseley will offer ideas to address increasing concerns in this arena.
A number of studies of county-level detention facilities across the country have cited the booking process as a potential chokepoint where safety and security can quickly break down, and the commissioners have asked the consultant to offer options on how this process can be improved.
Federal and state requirements for judicial detention facilities have changed since the early 1990s, and these are expected to be reflected in the options Mosely will ultimately provide.
The options for the commissioners could include renovating or expanding the existing space or building a completely new facility. A decision on which path to choose won’t be made quickly. Months of input, discussion, and consensus building lie ahead and if the choice is for new construction, land must first be identified and acquired.
Then, there is the cost. An early estimate mentioned last year during budget season was that a new detention facility could cost at least $65 million, with the inclusion of the Sheriff’s Office adding to that amount. Inflation would push costs even higher, and some sectors of the construction industry are still experiencing significant supply chain issues. Dollars for a new jail would have to be provided by the county’s taxpayers in the form of a bond referendum somewhere down the road.
For now, any talk of renovating or building new is just conjecture. The commissioners have taken a slow and methodical approach in deciding how best to deal with a growing problem, and they seem confident the Mosely report will provide them with the kind of foundation they need to convince the public they’re right.
