By Laura Camper
The Anniston Star
HEFLIN, Ala. — The Cleburne County Jail is dealing with an outdated control panel that is becoming increasingly difficult to fix as parts become harder to find.
The problem could endanger the staff and the inmates, according to Lane Kilgore, jail administrator.
If the panel fails during an emergency, it could make it difficult to evacuate the jail, he said.
In about half an hour Wednesday morning the buzzer that was meant to announce someone was trying to contact the control office or move through the building went off three times, but no one was there.
Brenda Fabian, the corrections officer on duty, pointed out one light flashing on the control panel that indicated someone was trying to reach her on the intercom. That light has been disconnected, she said. For the last couple of months, staff in the control room have had to rely on the cameras to tell them if a buzzer or light represented a real person or just a ghost in the machine.
Even worse, about a month ago, when the officer running the control panel tried to open the door of the jail to let visitors or officers in, the door to one of the cell blocks, which houses up to 15 inmates, would open as well, Kilgore said.
At most there are three officers on duty in the jail to deal with the 70 to 90 inmates -- one in the control room and two on the floor.
“You don’t want inmates wandering the halls,” Kilgore said.
The jail’s original control panel, which runs the intercom system, the lights and the locks, is reaching the end of its lifespan, Kilgore said.
The board is proprietary, which means only the company that sold the board can provide parts for it, he said. That company is no longer selling the boards, he said.
The jail stocked up on parts, but there are some that it can no longer get and others can take a long time to acquire, Kilgore said.
Sheriff Joe Jacks approached the Cleburne County Commission on Monday to ask that there be an allocation for a new control system in the upcoming budget.
Kilgore said the jail got an estimate this week on a similar push-button system that would cost about $50,000.
He’s still waiting for an estimate on overhauling the current system and he’s looking at other options as well.
“A lot of jails are going to touch screens,” Kilgore said. “They’re more user-friendly and easier to program.”
But there are disadvantages, too. The touch-screen systems run on computers and it can cost thousands of dollars to upgrade them when the programs become obsolete. In addition, most of the touch-screen systems are proprietary, too, Kilgore said.
“It’s going to pose a real financial challenge,” said County Administrator Steve Swafford.
Not only is the county dealing with the unexpected expense of cleaning up a fuel spill on its county equipment shed property, it’s facing a major revenue shortfall due to a lower volume of court costs. The ongoing construction on Interstate 20 has meant fewer arrests on the highway and a drop of $150,000 to $200,000 in court costs from last year, Swafford said.
The safety of residents is an obligation and the control panel is a valid safety concern, he said.
“Once it’s brought to our attention we have an obligation,” Swafford said.
The issue is more than purchasing a new system, though; it’s also purchasing one for the long haul, Swafford said. The system in the jail now wasn’t the newest technology at the time it was installed and repair crews become less familiar with older technology. The next system won’t need to do any more than the current system, but it does need to be dependable and serviceable, Swafford said.
Sgt. Betty Davey, treasurer and secretary for the Alabama Jail Association, said moving from a push-button system to a touch-screen system is a move up in technology and could be a more cost-effective move, but it doesn’t necessarily increase safety in the jail.
The biggest safety effects came when jails moved from using keys to electronic control panels of any kind, she said.
Davey works at Madison County Jail in Huntsville, which recently installed a touch-screen system. The jail couldn’t buy parts for the push-button control panel anymore, Davey said.
The touch screen is smaller than the push-button control panel and it may be more cost-effective to repair, she said.
For instance, with a push-button control panel come lots of wires and components that can go bad. With a touch screen it’s a program. If the touch screen goes bad you replace a monitor but the program is still in place, Davey said. In addition, as technology moves on, it’s harder to replace parts for the older systems, she said.
Copyright 2014 The Anniston Star