'Dear Sheriff Barnes: ... '
When Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes talks about the need for a new jail, he pretty much envisions the process playing out one of two ways.
1) The county willingly builds a jail.
2) The county is forced to build a jail.
Barnes worries about the latter scenario, which could start with a bunch of former inmates deciding that the overcrowded jails violated their civil rights. They get together on a class-action lawsuit and sue the county for a whole mess of money.
Then a judge steps in and orders the county to build a new jail, leaving the county little choice on how the jail gets built.
Letters like this one are what the sheriff is talking about.
Barnes recently had his attorney, Susan Moore, send the letter to the county commissioners. While all the commissioners recognize that the jails are overcrowded, some have proposed long-term options other than simply building a giant new jail.
Developing a drug-treatment center and expanding on the existing jails are two of the solutions that are often bandied about.
These types of letters aren't unusual, Moore said, adding that the county sees a steady stream of lawsuits from inmates who complain about the overcrowding. She says the county has been "very successful in defending the lawsuits," in part because the jail staff works hard to make sure the conditions are "maintained at as high a level as possible."
"We generally have two or three pending at any given time," Moore said. "Sometimes it's higher than that, sometimes it's lower than that."
Comments (1)
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try to stay out of jail, it is not suppose to be a vacation.
Posted on October 7, 2005 1:51 PM