By Marla Jones
Managing Editor
marla@southerntorch.com
FORT PAYNE, Ala.-- (Full Video on Southern Torch Facebook) The DeKalb County Commission held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, February 14.
Last year, The DeKalb County Commission requested bids for the expansion of the DeKalb County Detention Center. When the bids came in over budget, the plans for the expansion were redesigned and cut back 20%. The original base bid for the jail improvement came in at over 5.6 million. After the size reduction and redesign, the bids came back at 4.8 million. According to DeKalb County Administrator Matt Sharp, the County had bond money of 3 million with a locked-in, low-interest rate. Funds from the Alabama Rescue Plan could be used to fund the remainder.
The Alabama Rescue Plan was created during COVID-19 to address the negative economic impacts caused by COVID. These funds can be used by state or local governments for infrastructure.
“In 2001 the old jail beside the courthouse was overcrowded with inmates and in protest, several inmates set their mattresses on fire. This caused an evacuation of the jail. At that time the County held about 100-125 inmates in a jail that wasn’t built for more than 50. In fact by today’s standards that jail should have held no more than 25 inmates. Numerous lawsuits had been filed and court orders in place over the years that removed female and juvenile inmates from the jail” stated Chief Administrator Matt Sharp.
“After the 2001 Fire, Commission President Charles Bell and I met with members of the legislature as well as Presiding Circuit Judge Randall Cole to come up with a solution. The legislature passed a $40/case court fee that was supposed to generate $500,000 + per year to help pay for the new jail. It started out at about $300,000/year and increased to over $500,000 in 2008, but after the recession, those funds have now been reduced down to less than $300,000/year” continued Sharp.
“So, later in 2001, the Commission purchased what we call the “Jail Domes”. These are fiberglass structures that look like igloos. We placed them behind the Revenue Commissioner’s Building as a “temporary” fix to ease the overcrowding until the new jail was built in 2006. We moved those Jail Domes out to the site of the new jail and used them to house “trustees” and other non-violent offenders. Those “temporary” buildings have now outlived their usefulness. They are leaking and the roofs are sagging, so we have discontinued their use as facilities to house inmates” stated Sharp.
In 2021, we bid out an 80-bed addition to the jail to replace the domes. That bid came in at over $6 million. The new jail constructed in 2006 to house some 300 inmates cost about $10 million. So, we redesigned the addition and rebid in 2022. The bids only dropped to about $5.6 million. We went back to the architect and low-bidder and reduced the size down to about 60 beds and dropped the costs to about $4.8 million. That was still nearly twice what our original estimates were; however, with inflation the way it is, it wasn’t totally unexpected. The County has approximately $3,000,000 in Bond Funds available for the Jail Construction and has enough unencumbered ARPA Funds available to make up the difference.
I don’t think the Commission was real excited about the jail addition; however, when it comes to public safety, we have to have a place to house inmates and they made the decision to move forward with the project. I’ve jokingly tried to get Sheriff Welden to stop making so many arrests, but he insists on doing his job. “ concluded Sharp
Commissioners and Sheriff Nick Welden agreed that there were other things that they would rather spend the county’s money on other than jail expansion.
“We have been dealing with this for a long time” stated DeKalb County Commission President Ricky Harcrow. “Prices have increased due to COVID and other factors. All of us pretty much agree that it is time to move on.”
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the jail expansion. District 3 Commissioner Ron Saferite pointed out that housing federal inmates would help offset the cost.
“We are blessed to finally get this project finalized and moving forward. It’s sad that we live in such a time that this is needed so badly due to running out of room to house people for violating the law. But, we simply can’t slow down doing what we do or it will definitely get out of control” stated DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden.
“Thanks to ALL the County Commissioners for understanding the need, not the want and allowing this to move forward. Huge thanks to County Administrator Matt Sharp for all his research and the financial resources, he was able to assemble. This has been a lengthy process and I’m glad it all worked out the way it has, so now, lets move forward. God Bless” concluded Sheriff Welden.
Sheriff Welden also presented before the Commission the following personnel changes, which were approved by the Commission:
• Hire Jessica Johnson
• Transfer Kizzy Jones from Assistant Chief Jail Administrator to Compliance Clerk to replace Nina Haney, who retired
• Promote Tracie Hamilton from Jail Financial Clerk to Assistant Chief Jail Administrator to replace Kizzy Jones
• Promote Valerie Williams from Correctional Officer to Jail Financial Clerk to replace Tracie Hamilton
• Promote Christian Cronnon from Corrections Officer to Executive Administrative Assistant
• Promote Wendi Wright from Warrant Clerk to Deputy Clerk
• Accept the resignation of Mitchell Smith
The Commission approved Welden’s request for the following employees to attend training:
• ACCA training March 1-2 in Prattville for Seth Cagle and Tracie Hamilton
• Alabama Jail Association training April 22-27 in Orange Beach for Tracie Hamilton, Melissa Mason, and Kizzy Jones
In other business, the DeKalb County Commission approved:
• Road Stripping for County Roads 56, 106, and 177 in the amount of $17,780 to J.C. Chee Company
• Appointed Sheriff Nick Welden, Geraldine Mayor Chuck Ables, and Jeff Buttram to the 911 Board
• Reappointed Kenneth Black to the Blake Fire Protection Authority
• The hiring of Ruth Portage, as a driver for Rural Public Transportation
The next meeting of the DeKalb County Commission will be held on Tuesday, March 14, beginning at 10 a.m. on the second floor of the DeKalb County Activities Building.
