Oak Ridge Today

Jail population down, mostly due to COVID-19

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Anderson County Detention Facility
The Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above.

The number of inmates at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton has fallen significantly, mostly due to COVID-19, a law enforcement official said last week.

On Wednesday, there were 297 inmates at the jail, which was more than 100 inmates below the average, said Tyler Mayes, director of administrative services for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office.

“This is predominantly a result of COVID-19,” Mayes said. COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.

No one had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, Mayes said.

He said local jails across Tennessee are seeing similar reductions in the number of inmates as low risk, non-violent offenders are being placed on pre-trail supervision or being released on a low bond.

[Read more…]

Eight inmates treated at MMC after Morgan County fight

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Morgan County Correctional Complex (Photo courtesy Tennessee Department of Correction)

Eight inmates were treated at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge after a Monday night fight at the Morgan County Correctional Facility near Wartburg, officials said.

The Tennessee Department of Correction described the injuries as minor.

“All eight were treated, released, and returned to the facility a short time later,” TDOC said in a statement provided by spokesperson Robert A. Reburn on Tuesday. “Leadership at the facility have enacted measures that restrict the movement of inmates in the involved housing units until the conclusion of the investigation.”

[Read more…]

State: New law will save local governments money on prisoner health care costs

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A new state law is expected to provide relief to government budgets in mandated health care costs for inmates, a press release said.

Tennessee Senator Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank recently held a news conference in Knoxville to discuss the benefits to taxpayers that will result from the legislation, the release said. They were joined by Candace Allen from the Helen Ross McNabb Center.

The press release said the legislation was a result of a brainstorming session sponsored by the Tennessee Association of Professional Bail Agents in East Tennessee late last year. Sheriffs, district attorneys, county executives, judges, corrections administrators, health professionals, and bail bondsmen representing more than 32 Tennessee counties gathered to discuss the shared concern of jail overcrowding and costs threatening county budgets across the state.

“This new law sets out a framework and legal basis for counties to reduce medical expenses for inmates who receive medical care outside of a jail,” said Bell, who is chairman of the Senate Government Operations Committee. “While it does not solve all the issues surrounding the rapidly- increasing costs of incarceration in Tennessee, it will provide some immediate relief to government budgets that are spending more to address these issues at the detriment of other needs.” [Read more…]

Sheriff candidates spar over jail food

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Anderson County Jail Sandwich Lunch

A hand-picked crew of nine inmates prepares peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches on white bread for lunch at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Wednesday. Oak Ridge Today was allowed to take pictures of the kitchen, food storage area, and coolers and freezers, but not the inmates.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 a.m. July 25.

Sheriff: Despite campaign claims, jail menu conservative, with average meal $1.10

Challenger stands by his pie, ice cream claims

CLINTON—The menu at the Anderson County jail at lunchtime Wednesday was simple and spartan: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich and milk.

It doesn’t appear to be an unusual meal at the jail, at least not this week. In fact, the menu this week includes three similar lunches with 1/4 cup of peanut butter and jelly mix, two slices of bread, and 8 oz. of milk or chocolate milk.

Anthony Lay

Anthony Lay

Other meals on the menu—the jail can serve up to 8,000 per week—also call for small portions of meat and bread, fruits and vegetables, and beans and milk.

But Anthony Lay, a Republican candidate for Anderson County sheriff, has raised questions about what inmates are eating. He has suggested they’re eating luxuriously, enjoying pies, cobblers, cookies, and cake. Lay has said the jail appears to be operating a bakery, and taxpayers are footing the bill.

“Fresh baked (double chunk) cookies; cherry, blackberry, and blueberry cobbler; pumpkin and apple pie with Cool Whip—these are all delicious,” Lay said in a June 26 press release. “But at the end of the day, taxpayers foot the bill, and they don’t expect us to offer luxuries to folks who, let’s face it, are in jail for a reason.”

Paul White

Paul White

Sheriff Paul White, a Democrat seeking his third term in the August 7 election, has dismissed Lay’s claims as inaccurate and misleading.

“The jail does not operate a bakery,” White said in a July 1 statement.

He said the jail menus are quite conservative. They include a cold sandwich for lunch. The average meal costs $1.10, White said. [Read more…]

Anderson County jail expansion to open soon

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The expanded Anderson County Detention Facility, which has a renovated front entrance, is pictured above in Clinton.

Information from WYSH Radio

Members of the Anderson County Alternatives to Incarceration Committee have been given a tour of the soon-to-be-completed addition to the Anderson County Jail. The expansion is expected to open within the next month or so.

Officials said that when the new maximum-security pod opens, it will give them the ability to properly segregate prisoners as required by state law. The expansion, along with a 128-bed minimum-security dormitory, is expected to meet the county’s needs for the next decade.

The project cost just under $10.7 million and included renovations to the existing jail. Some of those improvements include a new video visitation area and a larger training room for deputies. [Read more…]

Jail’s workhouse designation allows some inmates to keep jobs

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above while still under construction in December. The expansion allows the county to declare the jail a workhouse, which lets some qualified low-risk offenders keep their current employment.

CLINTON—Some qualified low-risk inmates will be able to keep their jobs even after sentencing now that the Anderson County jail has been declared a workhouse, officials said Monday.

When a judge agrees, the inmates could continue their current employment, stay at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton when they’re not at work, and pay $15 to $17.50 per day for their jail time.

Female inmates judged to be low-risk offenders might be able to spend a few hours at home with their families and children, Anderson County Law Director Jay Yeager said.

The Anderson County Commission unanimously declared the jail a workhouse after a brief discussion during a Monday night meeting. Yeager said the designation has been allowed for some time under Tennessee law, but Anderson County is only able to use it now because the jail is being expanded, giving deputies more room to house and segregate inmates. [Read more…]

AC Commission to consider workhouse designation for jail

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Anderson County Detention Facility Expansion

The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton is pictured above under construction in December.

When it meets on Monday, the Anderson County Commission will consider a resolution declaring the Anderson County Jail as a county workhouse.

The proposal was unanimously approved on Monday by the county’s Operations Committee. If approved Monday by the full Commission, it will give judges more options when sentencing certain offenders. Additionally, some inmates could get time taken off their sentences in exchange for days spent on county work details.

The resolution declaring the jail a workhouse will allow some offenders to serve their jail sentences at night after being allowed to go to their jobs or in some cases to take care of their families during the day. [Read more…]

Guest column: County looks ‘dysfunctional’ on jail dispute, needs solutions

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Myron Iwanski

Myron Iwanski

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank’s op-ed column submitted to the media last week questioned County Commission’s decision to expand the jail. It has some incorrect statements about the history of this decision that need to be corrected.

In 10 years, the peak daily population of the jail nearly tripled. In 2000, there were 120 inmates, and in 2010 there were 340. The jail had a capacity of 226 when the decision to expand the jail was made in 2011. The peak daily population this year has increased to 396.

Mayor Frank’s claim that the jail is not overcrowded in very misleading.

This overcrowding is causing major problems in being able to properly classify inmates based on risks and other factors. This was the major reason the state was about to decertify the jail in 2011. It also does not take into account that we have approximately 3,000 outstanding arrest warrants, some of which prosecutors and deputies will tell you are for criminals that need to be in the jail. These criminals are not being actively pursued because of a lack of jail space. [Read more…]

Guest column: Mayor opposes move to house federal inmates at county jail

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Prior to my election as mayor, the history of our county jail expansions and additions was one directly related to increasing inmate population. The year 2011 saw property taxes increased 16.2 cents and monies were allocated to alleviating the overcrowding.

Immediately, the quick construction of a new 128-bed dorm as a lower cost solution of $1.74 million alleviated most of the jail overcrowding problem, leaving only the women’s unit with crowding concerns.

Anderson County citizens were then asked that, while current problems were being addressed, why not make plans to address potential overcrowding for years to come? This new $11 million+ addition of another 212 jail beds would carry us for at least the “next 10 years,” according to then-Interim Mayor Myron Iwanski (Commission meeting 4/18/2011). Not only would the new addition allow us room for growth for the future, we were told, but it would be designed with the latest design efficiencies put in place, therefore enabling a more efficient, cost-effective manner of operating our county jail. In fact, then-Interim Mayor Iwanski said “it’s going to be a whole lot less expensive” and a “much more efficient operation.” [Read more…]

Anderson commissioners approve new jail fees for inmates, new costs covered by Time magazine

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Anderson County Detention Facility

The Anderson County Commission on Monday approved three new sets of fees for inmates, including charges for supplies ranging for pants and shirts to toothpaste and toilet paper. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)

CLINTON—Anderson County inmates could soon pay for items such as pants and shirts, bras and underwear, and toothpaste and toilet paper, with costs ranging from three cents for soap to $24.65 for a coat.

The new fees were approved with no opposition by the Anderson County Commission on Monday. The money would be deducted from the inmate’s jail trust account or any other account or fund set up for the prisoner. The fees would not be added to court costs.

The supply fees were one of three new sets of inmate fees approved by commissioners on Monday. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission to consider new fees for inmates

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Information from WYSH Radio

As the Anderson County Commission continues to try and find ways to generate sufficient revenue to staff the jail expansion scheduled to open early next year, commissioners on Monday will consider several resolutions drafted by the county law director assessing new fees for inmates incarcerated at the county jail. Law Director Jay Yeager says the new fees are in line with state law and would help take the onus of housing the inmates off of the taxpayers and place it on the offenders themselves.

Some of the proposed fees include charging prisoners for their jail-issued clothing and toiletries as well as instituting medical and dental co-pays and fees for having a jailer escort an inmate to the hospital to visit a sick relative or to the funeral of someone in their immediate family. [Read more…]

Anderson Commission unanimously approves budget with small tax cut

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Terry Frank

Terry Frank

Note: This story was updated at 1:12 p.m. June 18.

CLINTON—The Anderson County Commission unanimously approved a budget that cut the property tax rate by one-third of a penny on Monday.

It was a small but symbolic gesture, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank said when she proposed the move, and commissioners endorsed it, during a special meeting last week.

For now, officials have resolved an impasse over whether there was enough money to cover the cost of new jailers hired in the past year by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for a jail dormitory that is already open—and to pay for more than 30 new jailers needed when a 212-bed addition opens later this year or early next. [Read more…]