Orange jail may get more inspections

HILLSBOROUGH -- The Orange County jail is still holding more inmates than it was built for, and the state may start inspecting it monthly to get the numbers down.

Last month, a state inspector found 152 inmates in a facility designed for 129. The jail has been consistently over capacity for at least two years.

"Facility should reduce the federal inmate population ASAP to prevent unnecessary overcrowding," jail inspector Chris Wood wrote in the semi-annual report. "Please respond."

In the mid-1990s, Orange County received $2 million to renovate and expand the jail in exchange for housing federal inmates. It also receives per-diem fees for federal prisoners.

In fiscal 2006, more than $2 million in fees composed about a quarter of the Sheriff's Office's overall budget. Fiscal 2007 figures were not available Tuesday.

Efforts to reach Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass were unsuccessful Tuesday.

In a report to the county commissioners for a meeting Tuesday night, Pendergrass said Wood's report "indicates Orange County's compliance with standards," despite the state inspector's telling the Sheriff's Office to lower the federal population.

The jail has been over capacity for at least the past five semi-annual inspections.

Last year, Pendergrass said he was comfortable with inmates sleeping on mats and thought the jail could hold as many as 200.

John Harkins, chief jail inspector, said his office, a section of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, may start inspecting the jail every month or every week to force Pendergrass into compliance.

In his response to the state, Pendergrass reminded Wood of his contract to house as many as 75 federal inmates per day, and said the jail actually had 63 on the date of Wood's inspection in January.

But Harkins said he is not convinced that the federal contract requires keeping any particular number of federal inmates. Requests to the Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshal Service for a copy of the contract were not fulfilled.

"They don't have any obligation to keep feds, in which case we're going to tell them to get rid of them," said Harkins, who was more concerned about the ratio of federal inmates than the overcrowding. "That 20 inmates isn't alarming to us at this point."

Harkins said 75 federal prisoners would leave capacity for only 54 local inmates.

"That's an awful small number," he said. "Having less than 100 beds for somewhere the size of Orange County is amazing to me."

County Commissioner Moses Carey Jr. said the jail crowding is a concern and the board has been aware of it for some time. He said eventually more jail space will be needed, but it's not a major priority for the commissioners.

"I think the sheriff has done an admirable job ensuring the safety and humane treatment of inmates in the jail in spite of its cramped capacity," Carey said.

Law enforcement officials have complained about local criminals being on the street because there wasn't room in the jail.

(Staff writer Samuel Spies contributed to this report.)