New Jail Moving Slowly Forward | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The new Beaufort County jail with sheriff's offices, magistrates offices, 911 offices, possibly a courtroom, and maybe a gym is moving slowly forward. This in spite of there being only six people in the entire county who will publicly say they support building this facility more than five miles from the courthouse. Most people do not want their taxes raised 15 percent for a facility to house purported criminals. Even with the limited and inaccurate information provided by the sheriff's department, it is becoming clear that Beaufort County does not need a new jail at any location.

    Digging into the way cases are handled by the District Attorney, the sheriff's department and the shade tree mentality of the judges it is becoming apparent Beaufort County simply needs some management.

    Four Commissioners voted at the February 3rd meeting to remain under the court order imposed by Chief Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons. This is unprecedented. Commissioners are elected to protect and manage the assets of the residents of Beaufort County. This is an unusual Court Order. Judge Sermons used some creative legalese to link a new jail to the order that required we provide a safe jail. The law is clear and has been tested recently. Judge Sermons can order Beaufort County to provide safe facilities for inmates. He cannot tell commissioners how to provide safe facilities. We could house all of our prisoners in another county if we so desired. We do not even have to have a jail. A judge in Alamance County got his come-upance when he lost in higher court after ordering the county to build a new court house for him.

    The creative legal language in Sermon's order indicates a close relationship with the Gang of Four. Actually Sermons order will work so long as no request is made for the order be lifted. The order can be lifted because we are in compliance with all state laws relating to jail safety. Keeping this order in place is one of those deals that benefits both the Judge and the Gang of Four. So long as there is no petition to lift the order, the Gang of Four will get a new jail and Judge Sermons will be setting a new precedent in North Carolina law. That precedent further allows judges to legislate from the bench. Yes, we have this national problem right here in Beaufort County.

    This is an unholy and illegal alliance between the Gang of Four and Judge Sermons. The Gang of Four is made up of Democrats Jerry Langley, Ed Booth, Robert Belcher, and RINO (Republican In Name Only) Al Klemm. Sermons is a Democrat. Both Sermons and Jerry Langley just happen to work in the court house. This whole thing is beginning to acquire and odor.

    The County received two letters from a law firm in Chapel Hill. One letter was a public records request for information and communications relating to the construction of a new jail. The other advised commissioners not to proceed without making sure all the "i's" were dotted and the "t's" were crossed. That is, be sure you have a sound documented justification for whatever you build and a justifiable business plan.

    The thought among the Gang of Four was to go into a closed session calling the letters legal matters and then to bury them within the closed session. This plan did not work because public records requests are not legal matters unless they do harm to the county. Advice about good business practices is not a legal matter. Just because the letters came from lawyers does not make them legal matters. Furthermore, under the closed session laws, commissioners are required to announce what the subject of the legal matter is before going into closed session. It is unlawful to go into closed session to discuss a secret subject. Open meeting laws were passed so the public will not be kept in the dark about basically anything. These letters are public information.

    As a result of the letters, the jail committee is beginning to clean up their act. They are only at the beginning of doing things correctly. After they complete all their tasks in a professional manner they will know the same thing the rest of us know. That is, we do not need a new jail.

    The Jail Committee actually discussed getting information about housing federal inmates, getting the facts on the State Misdemeanant Confinement Program, obtaining financing from the federal government, changing the zoning at the Chocowinity Industrial Park so a jail can be built. They even had actual presentations by their hand picked construction management and architectural companies. They have not bothered to interview any other bidders and I doubt this presentation would have been made had they not received the letters from the lawyers.

    It looks like the architect and construction management people do not want to begin work until the county has the money to build the new jail. That is why the architect and construction management contracts have not been signed. The Gang of Four has not figured out that these people usually get paid a percentage of the cost of the project. The county does not have a loan and it is for sure the Gang of Four is clueless as to what they want to build. It looks like this is going to be another Chocowinity school deal. What happened there was the architects built a school that cost exactly what the school board had in its pocket? We got a 22 million dollar school that could easily have been built for 10 million. It is looking more and more like the Gang of Four is incompetent.

    We do know the three Democrat County Commissioners have operated a business and never had to earn the money to meet a payroll. They have all been government employees. We have heard Klemm say how great he has been in management. Maybe he is good enough to make up for the other three. I spent 25 years in the corporate world and I know a little bit about how things work there.

    It could be that when contracts are signed a real lawsuit could be filed.

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