Article published February 1, 1985

Judge Proposes Minimum Security Facility for County

Not all criminals belong behind bars, Seventh Circuit Judge E.C. Burnett III told Spartanburg County Council Thursday in a meeting concerning a proposed law enforcement center.

The judge suggested that council consider a minimum security jail for non-violent offenders as an alternative to an expensive maximum security jail for all law-breakers.

Burnett, who met with county officials and consultants who prepared a join law enforcement center study, said many people are behind bars in jails where they really don’t belong.

The judge proposed that council consider renovating an abandoned school or similar building for persons who commit non-violent crimes and are sentenced to less than 90 days in jail.

The facility would be for persons who have been convicted of such crimes as driving under the influence or failing to pay child support.

Burnett called it "ludicrous" to house these types of lawbreakers in maximum security prisons.

While at the facility, the offenders could still maintain their jobs, taking an additional strain off of society by eliminating the need for welfare support of families, Burnett said.

A facility like this could save the county millions of dollars by eliminating the need to build a new jail with bars and other expensive security measures to house all lawbreakers.

Burnett is a member of the Jail Overcrowding Committee of the State Reorganization Committee. He said members have been studying the problem of overcrowding in state jails.

The committee got the idea for the non-security facility from Mecklenburg County, N.C.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff C.W. Kidd came up with the idea to convert an old school in Charlotte into such a facility. The move has been successful and has saved that county money according to studies.

The judge noted that public sentiment always has been to put all people who break the law behind bars.

"The public has not been willing to bite that bullet," he said.

Burnett said it is time that a new, less expensive approach be developed for jailing those who commit non-violent crimes.

A bill has been introduced to allow counties to operate work-release programs similar to the ones operated by the state. The program would allow some lawbreakers to maintain their jobs while they are serving their debt to society, Burnett said.

If the bill passes, this type of facility would be compatible to the program because the inmates could come and go as long as they meet certain minimum requirements.

W.E. Fripp of Grier-Fripp Associates Inc. in Charlotte is one of the consultants who compiled the study on the joint law enforcement center. Fripp, who specializes in the construction of jails, noted that it costs about $125 a square foot to build a jail.

He said the facility in Charlotte charges its inmates $11 to $19 a night depending on their incomes for the privilege to stay in the facility.

Inmates are screened by judges, who decide who will be allowed to serve their sentences in the special facility.

Larry Powers, warden of the Spartanburg County Jail, also met with officials Thursday. He said he has three inmates who have been sentenced to serve their time at night. The inmates leave each morning for work and return that night. Each time they return, jailers have to search the inmates for contraband to make sure nothing is carried to some of the more violent inmates.

He said the practice is placing an additional burden on jail workers, who are burdened with the responsibility of more prisoners than the jail is designed to hold.

Chairman Lachlan Hyatt noted that he had met with Mayor Lewis Miller, City Manager Wayne Bowers and City Councilman James Talley Wednesday afternoon to discuss a law enforcement center.

City officials had agreed to continue working jointly with the county on establishing a law enforcement center.

Hyatt noted, "We are going to start moving pretty rapidly on this."