York County Builds For The Future
The Rock Hill Herald has an excellent piece reviewing the present and future status of the York County SC jail as it starts to build a new facility that will double its size.
The York County Prison houses 120 county and state inmates. Inmates in the 14-year-old men’s facility are used as an additional labor force for the county’s Public Works Department. County inmates serve less than three-month sentences from family court, general sessions, magistrate and municipal court, while state inmates are serving longer sentences from general sessions court. The prison also operates a work-release program for those individuals who have been sentenced for neglecting to pay child support. The number of inmates fluctuates for several reasons, but this week, it was four under capacity with 116 men incarcerated, Prison Supervisor James Ramsey said. “We normally have more on the floor,” Ramsey said. “After the holidays, we’re lighter because there were less people in court.” On average, the prison had 135 men per day in 2007, with a daily maximum of 169
The detention center and prison at Moss Justice Center top the county’s lists of buildings that need expanding in part because Sheriff Bruce Bryant has said the crowding there is “a lawsuit waiting to happen” … Once the new 57,400-square-foot facility is built, the site of the current prison will be renovated for use by the detention center. An addition will be built on the current prison, giving the sheriff more than 200 new beds to address the jail needs created by more crimes being committed and an overtaxed court system in the rapidly growing county.
Read the full story for more information.