RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — In response to an audit conducted by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) last November, Richland County officials have unveiled a comprehensive plan to address issues at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
News19 filled out an open records request to retrieve the plan.
The 10-page improvement plan, created last month, outlines measures to rectify various concerns highlighted in the SCDC audit.
The Department of Corrections says the jail had holding cells that were being used for more than 6 hours of observation which is a violation of policy.
In the response, Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown said “[the jail] is actively moving forward with plans to create safe cells within behavior health unit (Mike) that will house detainees who may be in mental health crisis rather than having them in intake,”
The audit also questioned the monitoring of detainees, the county said they’ve now created a new secure control room within each housing unit to better watch over all the detainees.
Other issues are cell locks malfunctioning and needing to be repaired or replaced…the county says they are addressing those.
We requested an interview with the county they declined and deferred us to a council meeting on March 19th when Administrator Brown updated the Richland County Council to say the lock replacement is more than halfway done.
"Five of our housing units have been upgraded that’s 252 out of 468 locks, which is 56% completion," says Brown.
Regarding staffing concerns, Richland County Council Member Don Weaver says there needs to be improvements but stresses the ongoing need for more employees, "Staffing has greatly improved. The vacancy rate is down quite a bit because we have based on the national labor market, you know we've had to increase starting pay," said Weaver.
In response to questions about the treatment of female inmates, the county assured that designated housing units have been established, and security measures are in place to prevent the housing of convicted inmates and detainees awaiting trial together.
While Richland County declined an interview, Administrator Brown previously updated the council on progress, stating that over half of the necessary lock replacements have been completed.
The SCDC confirmed receipt of the detailed response from Richland County and stated that they are reviewing it to determine the next steps.