The Jail Controversy | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This opinion by Sheriff Candidate Harry Meredith appears to be a long held belief. Sheriff Candidate Donald Dxon has long had a similar belief regarding the jail, and his opinions can be found here.

    Contrast and compare, make a decision, support a candidate. It's the American way. Beaufort County will surely benefit from your electoral involvement.

    I want to take this opportunity to address the issue of building a new jail in Beaufort County. Building a law enforcement complex that includes the jail has been a topic for more than fifteen years, and will probably be for another fifteen years.

    My position is, and has been for the last ten months speaking at meetings and events, the county needs a jail facility that complies with all state standards, and the Sheriff's Office needs to be in a building that is not 75% condemned.

    This is like a Christmas wish list, however, and must be accomplished in a fiscally responsible manner. We cannot always afford what we want in life. In the present political and economic climate, taking on a capital improvement project this large will generate a debate on costs, location, and funding and has for the last fifteen years. The Commissioners did not raise taxes to fund the debt service on the school bond to my knowledge. With this in mind, I would like to see the Commissioners do the same when the decision is made to build the jail and possibly a structurally sound Sheriff's Office.

    To say that the problems at the jail are a direct result of mismanagement is reckless and may perk up the ears of a lawyer and cause the county more financial discomfort. There may have been some changes made since I retired in 2011, but I always considered the jail the joint responsibility of the Sheriff's Office and the Commissioners. I sent a number of e-mails to the county manager keeping him informed about the needs and condition of the jail, the sometimes crowded conditions, and any staffing problems. At times I was criticized for asking for too many repairs or too much equipment, but I also faced criticism if I did not make the requests.

    If mismanagement is suspected, specific examples of this should have been brought to the public's attention long before now. There is no need to set up an oversight committee for the Sheriff because there is one in place. The citizens of the county determine whether or not the Sheriff does his job and voice this at election time. The Office of the Sheriff is not a department of county government. The Sheriff is an independent elected official just as the Commissioners are. The Commissioners do not report to the Sheriff in an effort to justify their spending decisions for any county department, and the Sheriff runs his Office as he thinks best within the funding limitations the Commissioners set. The people expect the Sheriff and Commissioners to work together to provide a public safety service in the county.

    The Sheriff and Commissioners are elected officials and subject to public review. As with any project, communication is the key to success, and the Sheriff must work with the Commissioners, the county manager, and the maintenance department to establish a system that works and accomplishes the common goal of allocating assets effectively.

    Most people do not know the jail is inspected by the state and the local Fire Marshal each year. Each one generates a detailed report listing any changes or deficiencies identified in the jail. These reports are sent to the Sheriff, the County Manager and the Commissioners. Some of these items are funded each year and some are not. The Sheriff identifies the most pressing needs and the Commissioners supply the funds if available. These inspections are in addition to any problems identified by the jail staff and corrected during the year.

    When the Sheriff placed the jail under my direct command in 1999, his order was simple and clear. He told me to fix it. I observed a number of maintenance issues, policy issues, and personnel issues that needed to be addressed immediately. I will detail a few of these here, but I want to make it clear I could not have accomplished any of this without the help of the county manager and the Commissioners supporting my efforts.

    One of the first problems that caught my attention was the sewage the Detention Officers mopped up almost every day. I found that completely unacceptable. In my personal and professional life I have been a problem solver and quickly identified the root cause and implemented steps to resolve the issue. I established a routine maintenance program for the old pipes in the jail. I also eliminated serving whole fruit to the inmates, which they frequently wrapped in plastic bags and flushed down the toilet causing the system to back up in the jail. The state of North Carolina mandates a balanced diet but does not stipulate whole fruit must be served.

    Basically, the county is responsible for the medical care of the inmates. It is imperative that this cost be monitored closely. It never ceased to amaze me how many people were arrested with serious and expensive medical conditions. I worked with the judges day and night to keep the inmates with heart, lung, liver and kidney problems out of the facility to avoid major medical bills for the county.

    The Detention Officers dispensed medicine to the inmates without medical supervision. The rescue squad transported a number of inmates to the hospital for undetermined medical reasons when an inmate complained of pain. The taxpayers paid for this. I was not surprised the number of transports increased during the spring after a long, wet winter. Without medical staff at the facility, the inmates controlled this decision. I researched the issue and suggested the county employ Southern Health Partners to supply medical treatment in the facility to eliminate unneeded hospital visits and manage costs. This program has been in place a number of years, and when I retired in 2011, the Commissioners agreed this program saved taxpayer dollars.

    The Detention Center had never passed local health inspection that anyone could document in the last twenty years or so. Through a complicated process of trial and error and some creative thinking and space management, I managed to reduce the number of demerits to near zero and pass a health inspection in the early 2000's.

    In the late 1990's, Detention Officers would walk through the jail, collect money, write the snack order of on a scrap piece of paper and go to a local store to purchase the requested items. The lack of proper documentation and money in the jail led to a number of abuses of this system.

    The Detention Center also had what was known as "Take Day". Family members and friends would bring clothing items and money to the jail to be distributed to the inmates. This took a lot of manpower to handle and opened the door for contraband hidden in items to enter the facility.

    These were relatively easy problems to fix. I found a private vendor that could supply all of the inmate needs as required by law. Simply stated, the process now is handled by computer and the items delivered to the jail sealed and free of contraband. The money is handled electronically too which eliminated "Take Day" and other logistical problems.

    I set up remote visitation that eliminated the need to search family members and have them stand outside the facility for hours in the weather waiting to see a loved one. It would also reduce security risks to the facility. Unfortunately, the Commissioners decided to eliminate funding for this project just before it began. This illustrates it take a team effort to resolve an issue at the jail.

    I have touched on just a few of the changes I made in the day-to-day operation of the jail to keep it running smoothly and as a result pushed the need for a new facility further down the road. Once again, I want to say this was a joint effort of the staff, the county manager and the Commissioners. Without proper leadership and funding, the present facility will fail quickly. I am not going to tell you I can make the present facility work and not present a plan or provide information that I can do it. I have shown this county for more than a decade I can make the jail work with the support of the Commissioners. As your Sheriff in 2014, I will provide the direction and leadership needed to effectively run this jail or a new detention facility.

     Republican Candidate for Sheriff of Beaufort County