UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Voters will get the chance to decide whether to build a new jail in Union County as the facility faces deteriorating conditions that officials say are affecting day-to-day operations.
The Sheriff’s Office gave Channel 9’s Gina Esposito a tour of the facility where the crew could see structural damage, rusty pipes, and peeling paint.
Lt. Matthew Winfrey says these, and a growing crack in the wall, is just one of many issues.
The current jail was built in 1994 following a lawsuit over overcrowding. Winfrey said he doesn’t want to see history repeat itself.
“We are busting at the seams, honestly,” he said. “And we are need of that jail.”
The jail’s max capacity is 264. When Esposito visited on Friday, there were 261 inmates with six more at other facilities due to overcrowding.
Winfrey said they are often at or near capacity due to how many inmates need to be classified.
“The sheriff’s office is having to put three inmates in one cell just because the jail is so full... so that third person is sleeping on these mats on the ground – because there is no bed for them," he said.
If voters approve the bond request, the sheriff’s office could build a 500 bed facility with the potential to expand to 600, doubling their current capacity.
Winfrey said that the building itself is deteriorating too.
He showed Channel 9 multiple water leaks and pipe issues.
“We had to dig all the way down into the concrete down to the hard mud,” he said. “Had contractors come in. That’s where they found that cast iron pipe underneath had eroded out so it literally... just sewage going down just floating underneath this building.”
He said the jail’s future is in the voters’ hands.
Union County commissioners voted to put the $200 million bond referendum on November’s ballot. The money would cover building the new jail. The current building would be reused.
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