Jail evacuation costs could quickly escalate in Autauga County

PRATTVILLE − Evacuating the Autauga Metro Jail could cost the county’s budget hundreds of thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses.

Sheriff Mark Harrell evacuated the jail Thursday morning for “environmental” safety reasons. There were 168 inmates in the prison. The facility was opened in 2004 and can accommodate 138 people.

Records show 143 inmates were taken to county jails across the state as part of the evacuation. Before the move, some inmates were placed in handcuffs or transferred to other counties on “holdouts.” This is when other law enforcement agencies apprehend inmates to be transferred if they are released from the county jail where they are being held.

More:Autauga Metro Jail evacuated due to health and safety concerns

Harrell said the cost of housing inmates at other prisons ranges from $35 to $50 per inmate per day, depending on what the facility where they are housed charges. The county commission is responsible for covering these expenses, the sheriff said.

As part of the evacuation, inmates were taken to jails in Blount, Crenshaw, Cullman, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Russell and Shelby counties. There were no inmates at the Autauga Metro Jail building Friday afternoon.

The number of prisoners housed at the facility may change several times a day as new prisoners are admitted and remaining prisoners are released.

What happens to the new prisoners?

Individuals arrested in Autauga County are currently being processed at the Sheriff’s Office Administration Building, adjacent to the Autauga County Courthouse. Inmates are no longer held in the subway jail building.

Inmates are fingerprinted, photographed and processed, then transferred to jails in other counties, depending on the availability of bed space and which jail is closest. Deputies and sheriff’s office officers handle the shuttle back and forth.

Inmates who bond are taken back to Prattville for trial to ensure proper documentation and then released.

The Metro Jail houses people accused of felonies, as well as Prattville inmates accused of misdemeanors. Deputies, police officers and state police officers make arrests of people in prison.

Why was the prison evacuated?

Harrell said he was informed on April 1 about the possible presence of black mold in the jail and in the building’s heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems. He informed the district commission about the situation and stated that there was no other option but to evacuate the prison.

“We have a moral obligation to protect these people,” he said Monday of prisoners in prison. “They can’t go anywhere. When I am made aware of safety and health concerns in prison, I am ethically and legally obligated to take action.”

Companies come to the county commission and sheriff’s office to inspect the jail. The Advertiser attempted to contact Commission Chairman Jay Thompson regarding this story. On Thursday, County Administrator Scott Kramer addressed the evacuation issue.

“The county commission is aware of some issues at the Autauga County Metro Jail,” Kramer said at the time. “We have worked diligently and in good faith with Sheriff Harrell and his staff to address their valid concerns; we will continue to do so and ask him and his staff to do the same.

“Just this week, the County Commission called building staff to assess these concerns and attempt to address these issues. The facility was also visited by many experts. We will continue to make improvements, but within the limits of the law and the resources available to us, to ensure the well-being of every person – whether an inmate, staff, law enforcement officer or member of the public – who enters the prison.”

Harrell said his hands were tied.

“It will be up to the county commission to properly and appropriately address issues to prevent health and safety issues before I, as sheriff of Autauga County, place another person in jail,” he said Thursday as the evacuation began.

Repair schedule

On Monday, Kramer said the commission was working to address conditions at the jail and is planning future projects to address concerns about conditions at the jail. An approximately $780,000 project that includes re-roofing the jail and courthouse is in its final stages. He added that the old roofs were leaking.

The commission planned to open bids June 11 for upgrades to the jail’s electronic security systems, along with card access to county buildings. Kramer said bids will go out in July to repair and expand HVAC systems at the jail and courthouse. Future plans include renovating part of the jail building to build solitary confinement cells with padded interiors, which was done at the request of the sheriff’s office, he said.

The commission is waiting for a report on prison conditions, Kramer said. The next scheduled committee meeting will be June 18.

We are waiting for the specialist to tell us what we are dealing with. We don’t know if it’s black mold or prison mold.

Autauga County Administrator Scott Kramer

“We are waiting for the expert to tell us what we are dealing with,” he said. “We don’t know if there is black mold or mildew in the prison. The remediation process is completely different depending on what we are dealing with.

“The commission needs to know what we are dealing with before it takes any steps to solve the problems.”

The sheriff said Monday that he had not directly contacted commissioners about evacuating the jail.

There’s a reason for that, Kyle Shirley, the district attorney said.

“The sheriff threatened to file a lawsuit against the commission and hired outside legal counsel,” Shirley said. “I have advised my clients not to speak to the sheriff, which is standard advice when there is a possibility of legal action.”

Harrell confirmed Thursday that he has hired Dwight M. “Tray” Richardson III, who has a law firm in Millbrook, as his attorney.

Shirley said that before the evacuation, Kramer was in regular contact with the sheriff and jail warden Larry Nixon about conditions at the jail.

“They didn’t tell us anything like this was happening,” Shirley said of the evacuation. “We found out about this when we received a call from WSFA seeking comment. The expert was supposed to arrive on Wednesday (June 5) and at his request it was postponed to another date.