By Todd South
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — McMinn County Sheriff Steve Frisbie is looking at a $5,000 Band-Aid to temporarily fix an $8.3 million problem.
In November a Tennessee Corrections Institute inspection revealed overcrowding in the women’s area of the jail. There were 26 beds and 51 female inmates, some sleeping on mattresses on the floor.
The TCI yanked the jail’s certification until the problem is fixed.
Sheriff Frisbie presented a plan at the board’s meeting last week to move women to a separate section of the jail that holds 42 beds. The female population has since decreased to 38.
“I went in person and presented a temporary alternative,” Sheriff Frisbie said. “It’s a temporary fix, sort of putting a Band-Aid on it until the commission decides.”
To comply with state rules, the sheriff will have to cover windows in the larger section with sheet metal and install more doors and cameras for security and monitoring.
Some male inmates will be moved to the previous female area, which is set up in individual cells with multiple bunk beds, he said.
Problems with overcrowding of female inmates have been noted since 2007, according to the TCI letter. The McMinn County Commission developed a plan to expand the jail and add space for clerks and courts that was to begin this year.
By early 2008 nearly $6 million had been allocated for the project, which was estimated to cost $12 million to $14 million, according to Chattanooga Times Free Press archives.
Earlier this year, the County Commission’s jail committee accepted a bid of $8.3 million for the expansion. The proposal failed before the full commission, with some members citing staffing cost concerns, Sheriff Frisbie said.
The county has 60 days from the November decertification to fix the problems and may be re-inspected at any time afterward, said Barry Suttles, TCI detention facilities specialist who performed the McMinn inspection.
The sheriff said he’s been given time to make the temporary changes before the next inspection, but ultimately the next step is up to the County Commission.
County Mayor John Gentry could not be reached for comment. County Commission Chairman David Crews said commissioners wanted a temporary fix at a lower cost.
“We just thought with the economy like this, it was not a good time to take a risk on spending the money it was going to take to do this,” he said.
The overall jail numbers have been shrinking, he said, which will buy the county some time. “If numbers start creeping back up, we’ve got a good plan to go by,” he said.
Copyright 2009 Chattanooga Publishing Company