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Berkeley jail annex still empty

Addition can't be used until state agency gives OK

CORNER -- A $10 million expansion to the crowded Berkeley County jail sits empty 10 months after it was scheduled to open.

The annex, built after years of debate by County Council, still is undergoing work on its security and safety systems to satisfy state regulations.

Photo by Alan Hawes

The opening of the addition to the Berkeley County jail in Moncks Corner has been delayed until all state regulations are satisfied.

"People have been asking why we have this Taj Mahal sitting here, and we're not even using it," Detention Center Director Cliff McElvogue said. "I can definitely say it's not finished. We can't do anything until we get approval from the Department of Corrections."

The annex looks like a corrugated steel warehouse between the courthouse and the old jail. It appears to be finished on the outside, but subcontractors and inspectors are busy on the inside redoing some of the work, McElvogue said.

Work started about two years ago, and the annex was supposed to open in February.

McElvogue said he has no estimate on when the addition might be ready to open because that depends on the inspectors. Tuesday was a county holiday, so workers were not at the site, and it wasn't possible to find out exactly what still needed to be done.

It also was unclear how much having to redo some of the work would add to the project's cost.

County Council debated the jail expansion for years before finally approving the money. The annex will add 204 beds.

The annex is needed because the old jail is too crowded. The old jail is approved for 154 inmates but almost 500 inmates were packed in there a couple years ago, putting many on the floor, overcrowding cells and generating a flood of complaints.

While the annex was being built, the jail population declined. The number of inmates was down to 307 on Tuesday.

"We're still crowded, but we've got some breathing room," McElvogue said.

The jail population is down because the 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office and the courts have been processing cases faster and giving more non-violent offenders alternative sentences such as work release, he said.

The county will have to hire additional staff for the annex, but has not determined how many more people, McElvogue said. Determining staffing requirements is part of the plan the county is working on with the Department of Corrections, he said.

The county borrowed the money to build the annex, but would have to include extra detention officers in the general budget.

County Supervisor Dan Davis said he has been meeting with the Sheriff's Office and corrections officials.

"We are probably going to need some additional staff," he said Tuesday. "We think we can accomplish that without too much burden on the taxpayers of Berkeley County."

Davis said he didn't think the extra work raised the cost much beyond $10 million, if at all. He said the original estimates that the annex would be open in February were overly optimistic.

When the annex opens, nonviolent offenders will share big spaces like dormitories, monitored by video cameras. Visitors will talk to inmates through video cameras. Bond court will be conducted by video camera.

Charleston County opened a $100 million jail expansion in April, adding about 1,200 beds to its Leeds Avenue complex.

Dorchester County opened a new wing to its jail in St. George in 2005, adding about three dozen beds and further separating men and women inmates.