COLUMBIA, S.C. — A committee of the Richland County Council has given initial approval to a plan to close the juvenile wing of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, the jail that serves the county.
The Detention Center Ad Hoc Committee voted in favor of a recommendation by jail officials Tuesday afternoon at its regular meeting. The measure now moves to the full Richland County Council for consideration.
County officials said the proposal came as part of a review of operations the county is responsible for and to determine where their focus should be. The county is not legally obligated to house juveniles, and their current decision to do so was voluntarily, as many counties in the state don't have such an arrangement.
The county jail has been dealing with staffing shortages for several years.
According to Jail Director Crayman Harvey, there are 27 juveniles currently housed at the jail, requiring 14 employees to be used for their care. If the wing were closed, the employees would be reallocated to other parts of the jail.
If it were approved, all juveniles arrested in Richland County would go to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia, where many juveniles already go. The county said the move would also save the county money, but did not have a specific number on potential savings.
The detention center is one of two in this state (Charleston County is the other) that is now under a U.S. Department of Justice investigation centered around what's explained as unsafe conditions that the government says could be violating inmates' civil rights. This all came after stabbings, assaults, riots, alleged sexual assaults, and six deaths were reported within a year.
The jail has undergone renovations in the last year and new locks have been installed in an effort to prevent detainees from getting out and committee assaults on fellow detainees. In March, the county submitted a report to the South Carolina Department of Corrections to enhance conditions at the facility.