By Evan McKenna
The Island Packet (Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office has assumed leadership of the county detention center, with an aim of “bringing the facility up to standard” after years of subpar inspections, the department announced.
Sheriff Chris Malphrus, who took office in January 2025 after his previous term from 2017 to 2021, swore in a group of the jail’s existing detention officers as Jasper County deputies Monday morning.
The facility in Ridgeland has historically struggled with compliance issues, like many other jails across the state. The sheriff’s office said the choice to take over occurred after the county determined the jail was “not meeting required operational standards.”
In Monday’s press release, Malphrus said his office would focus on improving staff levels at the detention center, addressing necessary repairs and prioritizing the well-being of jail staff and inmates.
Currently, the detention center relies on a third-party security company that provides 15 to 20 staffers in the building, according to JCSO spokesperson Christian Felt. The agency will focus on hiring in hopes of reducing its reliance on the company. Damaged facilities and ‘persistent overcrowding’
A May 2025 inspection report by the South Carolina Department of Corrections documented several violations in the Jasper County Detention Center, with many tied to understaffing and overcrowding. The jail has an official capacity of 108 inmates, the report says, but the facility’s average daily population was 131.
The building is unable to separate pretrial female inmates from sentenced female inmates, according to the report, raising concerns of security and gender equity.
JCDC personnel introduced 12 overflow beds and had been using a multipurpose room as an overflow housing unit, although SCDC officials said that room “has not been rated or approved for inmate housing.” The report emphasizes that long-term solutions are required to address the jail’s “persistent overcrowding concerns.”
Inspectors also cited the jail for several fire code violations, malfunctioning intercoms and HVAC units, plumbing issues affecting the kitchen dishwasher and “multiple areas” in the facility and numerous damaged ceiling tiles “due to previous escape attempts, maintenance repairs, and water damage.”
The SCDC report also notes the building does not have sufficient space for an interview room, which may “hinder confidential interactions” and police interrogations. A comprehensive action plan to fix jail issues
In a 58-page comprehensive action plan submitted to SCDC in August, jail leaders outlined actions taken in response to the report, such as repairing and replacing the malfunctioning intercoms and HVAC units, planning to create new training programs, working with the Ridgeland Fire Department on addressing fire code violations and inquiring with county agencies and contractors about necessary repairs.
Such violations are common throughout South Carolina detention centers. In 2022, none of the state’s county jails met SCDC minimum standards, according to The Post & Courier.
Beaufort County was found to have the lowest number of jail violations among the state’s 46 counties. Still, a July 2025 inspection report found the detention center faced understaffing issues, lacked separate housing for pretrial and sentenced female inmates and neglected inmate health evaluation requirements, among other violations.
Former JCDC director Donald Hipp, who served as Jasper County Sheriff beginning in 2021 before he was unseated by Malphrus, emphasized in his action plan that many violations could not be resolved until the jail undergoes a “possible expansion.”
Hipp has since resigned from his role as jail director and was replaced by interim director Shane Roberts , a retired lieutenant from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office who will lead the detention center through its transitory phase.
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