"We pray that you investigate . . . "

Detainees in Alabama have warned that frustration is building and that a "riot" may be imminent as a "last resort" if their concerns are not taken seriously by the U.S. immigration service.

In August 2004, federal immigration "detainees" contracted to the Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, wrote a letter complaining about conditions and treatment at the jail.  Among their allegations is that a detainee who died in custody did not receive prompt medical attention.  The prisoners' letter is addressed to government officials, human rights groups, consular officials, activists, and journalists (see below).

Since the August letter, detainees have alleged that jail officials are interfering with prisoner mail and have threatened them with violence for attempting to file grievances.  Detainees also allege that some of them are sleeping on the floor without mattresses and some have eaten food from the garbage because of inadequate diet.  One said: "We are on our way to rise up at this facility."

Etowah County Sheriff James Hayes told me that he received a copy of the detainees' letter.  He unequivocally denies that immigration detainees receive less food than county inmates, as alleged in the August letter.  Hayes also denies that the jail censors inmate mail, though he concedes that he is not involved in the actual day-to-day operations of the facility.  Hayes attributes the August complaint letter to a "disgruntled inmate" and says that most of the charges are "baseless," though he says that he does want to know about them.  The letter was signed by 32 INS inmates.

Mark Dow
mdow@igc.org
Oct. 17, 2004

Complaint Letter from Immigration Detainees in Alabama*

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Etowah County Detention Center

827 Forrest Ave.

Gadsden, AL 35901

August 2004

Department of Homeland Security

Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Washington, D.C.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept this letter as a formal complaint.  It is our obligation to inform you of our condition here at the Etowah County Detention Center.  We are constantly subject to treatment that is abusive, unhealthy, and unlawful.

Since we arrived here we have had many problems that we have dealt with in hope that things will change.  We also expected our stay here to be shorter than it has been. 

Etowah County Detention Center is not equipped for us or any other federal detainees. This facility is in constant violation of the standards set and/or the law.

Listed below are only a few of the problems we continue to experience.

1.  Poor Medical Care and Recent Death of Detainee

One detainee has died:  on August 10, 2004, detainee Nelson Enriquez, 55 years old. He constantly complained about medication and diet.  When he collapsed, it took the nurse more than an hour to come to treat him.

If a detainee needs a even Tylenol, we must submit a request which takes 2-3 weeks.

2. Law Library

Technically there is no real law library at this facility.  It is not equipped with recent cases.  The main material in the so-called law library is cases reported in the district courts.  This sad arrangement denies us the right to properly defend ourselves in the court of law concerning INS matters and other legal matters concerning us.

3. Nutritious Diet

The right to have a nutritious diet is a serious problem in this facility, including religious and medical diets. 

The amount of food served to us as adults is less than enough for a five year old child.  The daily servings are beans and cornbread; at times we are served mashed potatoes or rice, but the amount is two tablespoons, or when there is no cornbread, one slice of bread.

This is on a day to day basis.  The administration seems not to care about this problem which is in total violation of the law.  When dealing with this problem the administration and INS/ICE officers become abusive.

On one occasion (6/2/04), we the ICE detainees refused to eat on the basis that the administration treated the county inmates differently than us, such as giving them full trays of food, coffee, and juice that is sealed.  Only county inmates may work in the kitchen.

However, on the above date when we refused to eat because of constant beans and cornbread, we asked to speak to INS/ICE officials, who are on site five days a week for them to look into this problem, but instead of helping us, Ms. Neyland of INS/ICE instructed the officers to use force on us, and three of the detainees were taken to solitary confinement.

This facility does not serve milk to us immigration detainees, but the county inmates do not have this problem.  On 6/2/04, Ms. Neyland stated clearly that the administration has to pay light bills and other bills, so we cannot have milk and other foods.  These are the words of Ms. Neyland in the presence of her co-workers and the county officers along with the female sergeant who runs the kitchen.

4.  Violations of Legal Privilege and Attorney-Client Communication

The attached form is to show that the immigration service and the administration of this facility have invaded our privacy in correspondence with attorneys and courts.  The only way we can obtain copies of legal documents is to submit all information on a request form designed for INS/ICE detainees only. 

[Note: On this form detainees must give information about the "purpose" of their legal documents, indicate whether they are acting pro se, provide attorney's name/address/phone number as well as the addresses of recipients to whom they wish to send legal documents.]

We have also been denied copies of documents necessary for other legal purposes.

5.  Phone Calls

Since being incarcerated here at Etowah County Detention Center, we have always had

problems with using the phone.  Because of the system in place here the high rate for phone calls is, for example, $35.00 for a twelve minute collect call, and $10.00 for a seven minute calling card printed by the Etowah County Detention Center.  In this preposterous situation we are denied access to the phone.  [Note: The jail has a phone service contract with Global Tel Link.]

We have been denied the right to contact the outside world.  As "detainees" we should not be subject to this harsh punishment.

6.  Lack of Ventilation and Daylight; Grievance Procedure; Other Mistreatment

There is no ventilation in this facility.  There are no windows for air to pass through.  There is no sunlight.  Since we have been here, we have never seen the sun.  Plants, animals and human beings cannot live long without sunlight.

On a day-to-day basis we are locked into the cells more than eighteen hours per day, and three to four days each week we are on 24-hour lockdown.  If anyone talks or laughs when out of the cells -- which is the only area where we eat, watch TV, etc. -- the punishment is that our food is placed on the floor in front of the cell door.  Completely on the floor.

Grievances do not help.  No [detainee] has ever received any response from grievances.

We are given only one pair of pants and one shirt, and receive clean ones only every three days.

The commissary items are priced way above our means. 

On June 16, 2004, the Gadsden Times mentioned that the facility will begin to increase its population of federal detainees. Yet they claim we cannot be fed properly because of the bills the facility must pay.  This is outrageous. 

We respectfully request that these problems be fixed without delay or that we be transferred to a facility that meets our basic needs.

We pray that you investigate the above issues.  You will find our allegations to be true.  We would appreciate your sending someone to speak with us.

We thank you for your time and effort with this matter, and we await your expeditious response.

Respectfully yours,

[Signed by 32 INS/ICE detainees]

Background

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The Etowah County Detention Center in Gadsden, Alabama, opened in 1994 to replace its outdated predecessor across the street.  The new jail’s conditions were the direct result of a consent decree which followed a 1988 class-action suit against the old jail (Rogers et al. vs. Etowah County), according to attorney Tamara Serwer of Atlanta’s Southern Center for Human Rights.  In 1998, Etowah County began contracting with the Immigration & Naturalization Service to hold some of that agency's detainees. In March 2001, Etowah County announced an $8.4 million dollar expansion.  At the time, the jail had 376 “fixed beds,” and, with the use of plastic “stackable bunks” or “boats,” its population was usually “in the 400-range,” according to Chief of Corrections Wes Williamson.  Between 70 and 100 of those beds were contracted by the INS.  When construction was completed, Etowah County would house 324 INS detainees at a rate of $30-33 per detainee per day, well below the $55 per “man-day” national average.  Etowah County Sheriff James Hayes told the Gadsden Times that the old INS contract had already helped the county pay for new vehicles, training, and equipment. The new 15-year contract, he told me, would raise $120 million in revenue.  

During a 2003 tour of jail expansion projects by Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama and other officials, detainees were locked down, according to the Gadsden Times.     

In May 2004, the Gadsden Times reported that the INS/ICE was delinquent in its payments to Etowah County.  Immigration detainees themselves have recently reported that they are getting insufficient food because of the budget pinch. 

When I visited the jail in 2001, even INS detainees who were frustrated by their detention had few complaints about conditions per se in Etowah County. Although I did hear reports about particular incidents of guard-on-inmate beatings and abusive use of a "restraint chair,"  Chief of Corrections Wes Williamson seemed to have a reputation among inmates and correctional officers alike for treating prisoners with respect.       

The August 2004 letter from detainees presents a very different picture.

Williamson resigned in the summer of 2004.  He was replaced as Chief of Corrections by Scott Hassell.  Etowah Co. Sheriff James Hayes told me recently that Hassell, a Methodist minister, is extremely "sympathetic" to the inmates/detainees.

Back in 2001, Chief Williamson  told me his jail was ready to handle some of the INS’s “problem” cases, including hunger-strikers as well as long-term or “post-order” detainees, whose deportation cannot be carried out easily, if at all.  Many of these “problem” cases would also be isolated from potential help.  That was not Williamson’s point, but neither is it an accident on the part of INS/ICE.  The agency refused to adopt a standard which would have prohibited the involuntary transfer of detainees to areas with no pro bono resources, and in Etowah County there is ”a complete dearth,” according to Christopher Nugent, then of the American Bar Association, the principal organization involved in negotiating with the INS for the adoption of detention standards.        

Detainees have recently complained about medical care at the jail. They report the death of detainee Nelson Enriquez, who allegedly lay for an hour after collapsing before he was seen by a nurse.  The death of Enriquez was also reported by the Gadsden Times on 8/12/04 (see below).         

The "Conditions of Confinement Review of the Etowah County Detention Center" dated March 15, 2002, a report by PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) for the Department of Justice/Office of the Detention Trustee (a copy of which I obtained through the Freedom of Information Act) expressed "significant concern" about medical care at the jail.  The following is from the report:        

In the area of healthcare, significant concern centers on emergency mental health care, suicide prevention, and chronic medical and mental health care.  The  department has a relatively small staff, and works with limited resources in a very cramped space.  These conditions put a strain on the department's efforts to  provide adequate care, and as a result many areas suffer.  It is important to note that when the facility's renovation is complete, the population will expand by over  400.  Much of this new population will consist of INS detainees who typically have longer stays and more chronic illnesses than the general county population  [i.e. because the INS sends long-term detainees and chronically ill detainees to this facility].  this will place a greater burden upon the medical department to provide chronic care and establish long term treatment programs.  The expansion   plans do include the construction of a new medical space, which will more effectively serve the needs of the staff.  It is more spacious and includes an infirmary and separate exam rooms.  However, the current medical staff will be insufficient to handle the influx of new detainees.  At the time of the review, the medical director has not given serious thought to future staffing needs.          

In the area of emergency mental health care, the facility's involuntary treatment policy does not contain provisions for administering forced psychotropic    medications.  In the instances when facility staff members have administered forced injections, they have not documented the fact that the medication was forced . . . In some records reviewed, a forced injection of the long-acting form of   the drug Decanoate was administered.  This drug stays in the body for 2-3 weeks, and should not be used without the patient's consent.  The lack of a policy for administering forced psychotropic medications, and the practice of administering forced psychotropic medications without appropriate consent or necessary documentation exposes the facility to significant risk.

Detainees with emergency mental health needs are ill served in several ways. . . . Individuals with chronic medical illnesses are in a similar situation.  In the charts reviewed, there were several individuals on medications for chronic illnesses for over 6 months with no physician assessment of their status.  If these detainees do    not make requests for sick call, they are not seen.  There are no treatment plans to   guide staff members, so treatments are based primarily on what presents at sick call rather than on what is known to be necessary treatment for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma and hypertension.  The majority of detainees with     chronic illnesses have never received baseline laboratory diagnostic tests of on-going assessments of their status by the physician. . . .

Female detainees with stays extending past one year do not receive potentially life-saving tests such as pap sears, although it is well known that the female jail population is at significant higher risk for gynecologic cancers than the females in the free community. . . . Access to routine and chronic gynecological care (other than prenatal) is denied in the majority of cases.  [Emphases added.]

According to Sheriff Hayes, the jail has "completely re-done" its medical operations since the PwC inspection and there is now practically a "mini-hospital in the jail."

MD
 

Articles from Gadsden Times

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Inmate dies at county jail

Arrangement reached with INS

Detainee numbers to rise

Chinese man has yet to find his family

Number of INS detainees at detention center declining

Paying some of their way - Charging medical co-pays for inmates is fair

County jail celebrates anniversary

Hayes to seek pay raise for sheriff's deputies

Tardy INS check comes in

INS tardy with money for county

Troopers set for INS training session

Jail's project with INS praised

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published Aug 12, 2004

Inmate dies at county jail

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An inmate at the Etowah County Detention Center awaiting deportation to Cuba died after he collapsed in his cell early Wednesday, according to a news release from the office of Sheriff James Hayes.
The inmate, housed for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security, had trouble breathing and collapsed about 3:30 a.m., said Scott Hassell, chief of corrections for the Etowah County Detention Center.
Nelson Enriquez, 55, is believed to have had a heart attack, Hassell said.
Medics were immediately called after he collapsed and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started, Hassell said.
Enriquez was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later.
Enriquez was from New York and had been in the United States since 1979.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published Jun 20, 2004
Arrangement reached with INS
Plan will save possible waste of federal funds

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The deal that found the Immigration and Naturalization Service paying $8.4 million toward a large expansion of the Etowah County Detention Center in exchange for a guarantee of 348 available beds was a good deal for everyone - provided the feds filled a majority of those beds.
The INS and U.S. Marshal Service signed a 15-year contract to keep detainees at the jail, paying a certain rate per detainee. Etowah County got increased jail space - something it needed to adequately house female inmates - and enough money for housing the inmates to cover the cost of the extra personnel needed.
But in the last few months, the number of detainees housed at the Etowah facility dropped significantly.
For several years the Atlanta INS office worked with the sheriff's department housing large numbers of detainees at the jail. After a reorganization, the state went under the New Orleans office, and because of the increased distance and closer facilities, fewer detainees have been coming to Gadsden.
Atlanta averaged about 325 detainees a month. After New Orleans took over, the number dropped to about 220.
It was a financial issue for Etowah County, with less money coming in. But Sheriff James Hayes says the issue has been resolved, with an agreement for both the New Orleans field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the INS) and the Atlanta office to use the Etowah County Detention Center to house detainees.
Hayes says the numbers of detainees should begin to increase in the next few weeks.
That is good news for not only the sheriff's department and the county commission, but also for taxpayers in Etowah County and beyond. The joint jail project between the federal and county officials was sold on the basis of its financial effectiveness, which hinged on the number of detainees to be housed there.
The project was worthwhile to the county only if enough detainees came in. It would hardly be worthwhile for the federal agency to invest more than $8 million in a project to guarantee bed space if it was not going to use the bed space it was buying.
For taxpayers, fewer detainees could be seen as a double whammy - county taxes might have to subsidize the jail operations, and federal tax money would have been spent unwisely on a facility the agency was not using fully.
It was a necessity that all the agencies involved - both federal and county - reach an agreement that made better use of federal tax dollars, and didn't cost more county tax dollars.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published Jun 16, 2004
Detainee numbers to rise

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The number of immigration detainees at the Etowah County jail, which has dropped significantly the last few months, should begin to increase in the new few weeks, Sheriff James Hayes said Tuesday.
Hayes told the Etowah County Commission at a work session that an agreement had been reached between the Atlanta and New Orleans field offices of Immigration and Custom Enforcement - formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Service - in which both offices will use the jail here to house their detainees.
The Sheriff's Department had been working with the Atlanta office for several years and keeping detainees here under its jurisdiction. However, as part of a reorganization, the state went under the New Orleans office in October.
Because of the distance from Gadsden to New Orleans, and the fact that other facilities were closer, the number of detainees coming here dropped significantly.
Commissioners had been concerned about the drop because of the expense involved and feared that the county would begin losing money if the numbers didn't improve.
Wes Williamson, chief of corrections at the jail, said after a jail expansion opened in April 2003 that Atlanta averaged keeping about 325 inmates a month. But, he said, after New Orleans took over and Atlanta had finished working its cases the number of inmates here dropped to about 220 a month, which caused financial problems for the county.
"Atlanta has never had a problem keeping us full," Williamson said.
Hayes said that after a joint phone call Monday with Atlanta and New Orleans the offices agreed to let Atlanta, which needs beds, to use the Gadsden facility. The New Orleans office also will use it. He said separate accounts would be kept for the two offices and they would be reconciled and billed separately.
He said his department has been working for some time on the arrangement and he was "cautiously optimistic" that the number of detainees here would go up soon.
"For all intents and purposes we've got that issue resolved," Williamson said. He said Atlanta is very interested in using the facility here.
The INS had contributed $8.4 million toward the expansion of the jail and was guaranteed 328 beds for its use. The INS and U.S. Marshal Service had signed a 15-year contract to keep detainees at the jail.
The county is using proceeds from the keeping of the detainees to pay its portion of the jail expansion, which included increasing the number of cells for female detainees.
Williamson said the New Orleans office had tried to work with the county and had sent long-term detainees to the jail in which distance would not be as much of a problem.
He said the distance in transporting prisoners to and from New Orleans was a problem, compared to a trip of just more than two hours to Atlanta.
Williamson said another thing that would help the occupancy rate even more would be for a federal immigration review judge to be assigned to the county and the commission could help lobby for that.
Williamson said while the county has had problems in late payments from Atlanta, the Sheriff's Department hopes that will improve.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published May 26, 2004

Chinese man has yet to find his family

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There are no new clues about the whereabouts of the family of a Chinese man who has been staying at the Salvation Army in Gadsden since he was released from immigration custody two weeks ago.
Zhou Yi speaks no English and has spent his time walking several blocks between the Salvation Army on North 11th Street and the public library on College Street, said Monza Miller of the Salvation Army.
"He likes to walk and he knows his way back here," she said.
Miller and other Salvation Army officials had hoped publicity about the 21-year-old would help find his family.
So far, the Salvation Army has gotten many calls, but none that has helped find out more about him or where his family lives.
There have been offers to pay for a bus ticket for the man to return to New Orleans, where it is believed he has family, but Miller said unless there is someone at the other end to pick him up, the Salvation Army cannot put him on a bus.
"At least here he has a place to sleep and something to eat," she said. "He can take a shower and wash his clothes."
Zhou, who had been in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently since September, was released from the Etowah County Detention Center on May 7 and taken to the Salvation Army's shelter.
For more than a day before his release, immigration officials tried to find out where his family was and where he could go.
Immigration officials tried to use a Chinese interpreter by phone to communicate with Zhou - listed by immigration officials as Chou Yi - but the interpreter could not understand him.
Another immigration detainee who also is Chinese tried to communicate with Zhou, but was not able to, an immigration official said.
Zhou apparently has some mild
retardation and quickly caught the hearts of the workers at the Salvation Army, whose only leads came from his immigration paperwork.
Finally, Gadsden State Community College student Ana Liang - who has been in the United States eight months - talked to Zhou.
She fluently speaks English, Chinese and Japanese and was able to find out some information.
Staff members of U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt's office also got involved and got a Chinese interpreter from Birmingham in touch with the Salvation Army.
The interpreter talked by phone with Zhou and after conversations with the interpreter and Liang, it was determined Zhou came to the United States between six months and a year ago on a China Southern Air flight to Los Angeles.
From there, an uncle picked him up and they ended up in New Orleans.
He apparently lived with his uncle and aunt, who own a Chinese restaurant in New Orleans. His uncle's name is Huang Yong and his aunt's name is Zhou Jin Nan and a cousin and Zhou's younger sister also live with them. His father possibly traveled with Zhou to the United States. His name is Zhou Jian Cheng. His mother's name is Zhi Gui Ying.
Possibly in September 2003, Zhou was jogging one morning and got lost.
Details are not clear, but someone apparently picked him up and when they could not communicate with him, sought help from the police.
Police officers, possibly in New Orleans, were unable to communicate with Zhou, who was turned over to immigration officials. Apparently as part of the process for detainees, Zhou was transferred to Etowah County for holding.
An immigration official working in Etowah County said he could not speak specifically about Zhou's case, but regulations with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, based on a Supreme Court decision, require that detainees have six months to obtain travel documents. After six months a decision is made to release or continue detention, he said.
Apparently there was no reason to continue holding Zhou.
Even though he had no place to go, immigration regulations did not allow for him to stay at the jail.
Anyone with any information about Zhou's family can contact the Salvation Army at 256-546-4673.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published May 21, 2004
Number of INS detainees at detention center declining
Federal payments are barely enough to cover expenses.

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The number of immigration detainees being housed at the Etowah County Detention Center is just barely enough to cover expenses.
The number has been declining since Oct. 1, when Alabama was moved under the jurisdiction of the New Orleans field office for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Wes Williamson, chief of corrections at the jail. Williamson spoke Thursday to the Gadsden Rotary Club.
Etowah County first was approached in 1996 by someone from what was then the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization to house immigration detainees.
At first, 25 detainees were housed, with the county charging $30 a day - the same rate charged to house prisoners for U.S. marshals, Williamson said.
After about a month, the number increased to about 125 a day.
"It was really a good operation," he said.
Then the two agencies agreed to a 15-year contract and an expansion at the jail, with $8.4 million paid by the INS. The county kicked in about $3.5 million more to expand the women's area at the jail during the same renovation, Williamson said.
At that time, Alabama was under the INS field office in Atlanta, less than a two-hour drive from Gadsden.
While under the Atlanta division, an average of between 350 and 400 detainees were housed daily.
Eventually, the Atlanta office fell behind on monthly payments, which caused cash-flow problems.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the INS was moved under the Department of Homeland Security and the administrative and enforcement divisions were divided. The division now is called the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Williamson said.
Because Alabama was moved under the jurisdiction of the New Orleans office, payment has been prompt, Williamson said, but the number of detainees has dropped significantly.
"We have been getting paid in a timely manner, but it is about $100,000 to $125,000 per check less than what we had with Atlanta," Williamson said.
When the immigration service changed from Atlanta to New Orleans, there were 370 detainees.
Williamson blames the decline on the distance between Gadsden and New Orleans, compared with the distance between Gadsden and Atlanta.
"They've got thousands of beds at their disposal, which are much closer than we are," he said.
"When we fell into a new district, a lot of things happened that nobody could anticipate," Williamson said. "We had a gradual decline and hit a low a few months ago of 200. We need at least 220 to be in the break-even range."
An average of 240 detainees are now housed at the jail, he said.
"We're in one of those down times right now, but we have to look at the big picture," he said. "We can't look at it day by day."
Williamson said he, Sheriff James Hayes and other officials have been working with U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, to secure funding for an immigration review judge to be based in Etowah County.
"That would be very positive," he said.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published Mar 19, 2004
Paying some of their way
Charging medical co-pays for inmates is fair

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For inmates in the Etowah County Detention Center, seeing a doctor has been easier than it is for most people outside a cell. With no worries about missing time from work, and until now, no worries about paying for the visit, it was easy to see a doctor for even the hint of an ailment.
But it has been extremely costly for the sheriff's department and the county, which pays Southern Health Partners to treat inmates. Etowah County Chief Corrections Officer Wes Williamson says he believes the system has been abused, and he hopes to stop it with the introduction of a co-pay for inmates to see a doctor.
Inmates requesting a medical visit - to see a doctor, nurse or dentist - are being charged a $5 co-pay. There is also a maximum of $10 per month for prescriptions, based on $5 a prescription. The money will come from an inmate's commissary account.
Williamson says he does not think taxpayers should bear the burden of providing completely free medical care for inmates who have money to buy cigarettes, candy, toiletries and other things they want.
No inmates will be denied care and their commissary accounts will be charged after service is given, Williamson said. He says other jails have established co-pay systems for medical care and he expects no legal challenge to the plan.
County Administrator Harry Still says the change will avert a 3 percent increase in the county's contract with Southern Health Partners. Williamson hopes the cost of the contract will drop as the demand for medical service does.
All involved expect inmates to ask for fewer doctors, nurse or dental visits if they have to pay for treatment. Jennifer Hairsine of Southern Health Partners says most of the 60 jails in nine states the agency contracts with have gone to a co-pay system. She expects requests to see a doctor or nurse to drop by 20 or 30 percent initially, although the requests might increase after the systems is in place a while.
The co-pays to be charged are modest by the standards of most healthcare plan co-pays - and virtually all participants in that plan pay for the healthcare coverage as well as paying co-pays. The $5 inmates will pay won't go too far in recouping medical care costs.
The plan should allow the county to provide healthcare for jail inmates, but discourage them from seeking medical care when it is not necessary.

www.gadsdentimes.com
Article published Mar 14, 2004
County jail celebrates anniversary

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About 80 prisoners were moved to a new jail 10 years ago. The move was just across the street, but there are miles of differences between the old facility and the current Etowah County Detention Center, which can house about 800.
The old, out-dated jail closed 10 years ago Monday. The new facility then had space for about 220 inmates.
With an expansion completed last year, about 700 inmates now are housed at the detention center. There is space available for about 100 more.
The detention center now ranks third in the state in the number of inmates, said Wes Williamson, chief of corrections for the jail. Jefferson County ranks first and Mobile ranks second, he said.
Detainees held for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service account for many of those inmates, but the venture with the federal government also brings in money to help pay for the changes brought about by the growth at the jail.
A contract to house INS detainees led to an expansion the federal government helped pay for. With the need to expand the space for female inmates and address some security issues raised because of an escape of a capital murder suspect in 1998, the county commission paid for a portion of the expansion.
The old jail was an embarrassment and there had been problems for years, Sheriff James Hayes said.
"It was just the nature of the jails in those days," Hayes said. "In the '60s and '70s, you could physically put somebody in a jail cell and they'd get a response (from the jailer) if they yelled loud enough."
But just a few weeks after Hayes took office in 1987, the state fire marshal's office ordered some changes or the jail would be shut down, Hayes said.
"I knew when I took office it was a dreadful situation," he said.
Overcrowding was one of the biggest problems, so some modifications were made that put the jail in compliance with the state fire
marshal, Hayes said.
But a lawsuit filed in federal court in the late 1980s ultimately led to construction of the new jail, Hayes
said.
In a consent decree, U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon ordered the Etowah County Commission and the sheriff to either bring the facility into compliance or build a new facility, Hayes said. The consent decree also addressed problems about staffing levels, he said.
"Since we had such a problem with overcrowding and nowhere to expand, we had no choice but to build," he said.
In a hearing before Clemon, Hayes said it was obvious how serious Clemon was about the needed changes at the jail.
"Judge Clemon asked Mary Ann Stackhouse (the county attorney at the time) if she had her toothbrush with her," Hayes said. The judge had each county commissioner and Hayes stand and identify themselves individually.
"He told us, `If you don't hurry up and get something done, I'll make you spend the night in your own jail,'" Hayes said.
With no choice but to build, plans moved forward, Hayes said.
The decision was made to make the new jail the "direct supervision" concept, which took the bars between the jailers and prisoners away, Hayes said.
"I admit it's more labor intensive, but it has been well worth it," Hayes said. "History has proven inmate lawsuits are incredibly less."
The professionalism of the jail industry has changed, he said.
"The people are so much better trained," Hayes said. "It is safer for the inmates and the officers."
Sgt. Larry Teal worked at the old facility and now supervises at the new facility.
"The biggest difference in the old facility and this one is the inmates were behind bars," Teal said. "They knew you couldn't get to them and they didn't care what they said."
Now the correct term is corrections officer and the job means many have a face-to-face relationship with the inmates, Teal said.
"Now you have to use more skills," he said. "You have to use your head and actually talk one-on-one to the inmates to deal with them. You have to be more professional."
In the old facility, the inmates were often put in a cell and forgotten, he said.
"In the old jail, the inmates pretty much hated us and we hated them," he said. "Here you've got check on them and they're treated much better. The inmates are going to let you know what their needs are."
Now one corrections officer might supervise 130 inmates.
"You have to know how to better handle yourself mentally," he said. "If you respect them, they will respect you."
An obvious difference between the old jail and the new facility is the number of inmates, and that means more changes in laundry and kitchen facilities, as well as security to handle that many inmates.
Eight female inmates were brought from the old facility, Williamson said. The new facility had space for 18, which seemed like plenty at the time.
But soon, the female population exploded and the 18 beds were "double-bunked" and there was room for 36, Williamson said.
This still was not enough space and at times the female population at the jail was near 100, Williamson said.
The increase in the number of female inmates began as drug problems continued to grow, Williamson said.
"The courts started treating women equally," he said. "For years, they weren't as harsh on women, but with the drug problems now it doesn't matter if you're male or female."
There are about 50 female inmates in jail now, with capacity for about 100, Williamson said.
One of the biggest stories from the jail came in 1998 when a female corrections officer allowed the escape of Mario Centobie, now on death row for the 1998 murder of a Moody police officer.
Centobie was being housed for St. Clair County because Etowah County's jail was one of the most secure in the area.
But what officials did not consider was the "human element," Hayes said.
The officer had contact with Centobie and developed a relationship with him. She had access to the central control, which was operated from the maximum security area of the jail and unlocked five doors so he could walk out of the facility.
The incident not only led to more stringent background checks for new employees, but led to changes in the operation of central control, Williamson said.
With the renovations and addition completed last year, central control was moved to the basement in an employee breakroom.
With the new construction it was easier to build a new control room instead of trying to tie in all the new wiring to the old central control, Williamson said.
It also placed an employee who never has contact with any inmates at the control.
The control room has monitors for about 80 different cameras throughout the jail. The doors cannot be unlocked except by the central control operator, Williamson said.
Part of the "direct supervision" concept also includes keeping the inmates isolated and taking all services to them, Williamson said.
A medical staff provided by an independent contractor takes prescribed medications to the inmates.
Visitation methods also have changed, with the addition last year of "video visitation," Williamson said.
The visitors no longer have to go inside the jail and are in a public area, seated on one side of a television screen. The inmate can be called to a similar monitor without ever leaving their unit, Williamson said.
The booking area has state-of-the-art fingerprint equipment, which is tied in with a system provided by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation in Montgomery.
Experience has led to some other changes. An old visitation room in the booking area has been converted to a "drunk tank," Williamson said.
A sloping floor and a flushable drain in the center of the floor in the room have been added for easier cleanup, he said.
But even with all the improvements, the jail would not run as smoothly without the employees, Williamson said.
"The thing I'm most proud of is my staff," Williamson said. "It doesn't matter how great or wonderful the building is, what it boils down to is the people. In their job, they provide safety and security for the public, themselves and the inmates."

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Article published Mar 12, 2004

Hayes to seek pay raise for sheriff's deputies

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Etowah County Sheriff James Hayes said he is considering asking the county's legislative delegation to pass local legislation that would increase the minimum pay for sheriff's deputies to $30,000 annually by October 2008.
Hayes said the bill would increase the pay over five years and this would give officials time to come up with the money to pay for the 28.5 percent increase.
He said Thursday he has not discussed the legislation with the local legislative delegation or the county commission but he might talk with commissioners at their meeting Monday. He also plans to talk with legislators.
County administrator Harry Still said the bill would be costly to the county and would add about $380,000 in wages and benefits annually to the county's budget for deputies (not including other sheriff's department employees) when fully implemented.
Still said he will talk with commissioners about the legislation and will ask local legislators to oppose it as well as a statewide bill being pushed by the Alabama Sheriff's Association but has not been introduced yet.
Still said the county has one of the best staffed and funded sheriff's department in the state. He said he did not know where the money would come from to pay for the increase.
"I wish we could pay everybody more money," Still said, noting that commissioners don't know how much more they will have to pay for employee health insurance next year.
"Any need the sheriff has brought up has been addressed by the commission," Still said. He said 25 employees have been added to Hayes' department since 1997 and other county departments have added very few employees.
Still said he was aware that the bill was being pushed as a statewide bill but he did not know of plans to introduce it as a local bill. He said it would have a devastating effect on the county.
A local bill must be advertised for four weeks before it can be introduced. The legislative session ends May 17. It is a little more than one-third over.
Hayes said the minimum salary
now for deputies in the state is $15,600. He said the statewide bill would increase the pay by $2,880 a year beginning Oct. 1, 2004, until the $30,000 level is reached.
The starting pay for deputies in the county is $10.72 a hour, or $21,361.60 annually, according to personnel director Mike Naugher. Naugher said the county has 40 deputies, along with two captains, two sergeants and six investigators.
Hayes said the bill would not affect the county for two and possibly three years - or even four years, depending on whether employees receive any pay raises during that time. Under the bill, the minimum pay for deputies would have to be $22,240 by Oct. 1, 2006. Hayes said pay raises given by the county commission could increase the deputy sheriff's pay to that level by that time.
"That gives us time to work on the way to fund it," Hayes said. He said the average pay for a deputy sheriff is $23,000 and most have to work second jobs. He said deputies hired since 1992 have to pay all of their family insurance coverage.
Hayes said the increases for the pay raise could be funded by saving money on the county's workers compensation and liability coverage.
He said help with funding could also come about by establishing a separate personnel board for the sheriff's department and eliminating some county holidays and other benefits in exchange for pay increases.
Hayes said he would also support the commission in asking the delegation for a tax increase, such as a gasoline tax increase, to fund the salary increase. "I'll support anything that's reasonable for the people," Hayes said.
He said he did not believe a statewide bill would pass this legislative session because smaller counties will fight it. He said the best chance is to address the pay issue is locally.
"Etowah County ought to take care of Etowah County," Hayes said. "These ladies and gentlemen (deputies) get out there and risk their lives every day." He said other county employees deserve a pay raise but his main concern is the deputy sheriffs.
"I've never met a law enforcement officer that's paid according to what we ask for them to do." Hayes said. He said he and other sheriff's department employees have been working for seven years to increase the minimum pay for deputies to $30,000.
Hayes said another possible funding source would be trying to get an increase in the day rate the Immigration and Naturalization Service is paying the county for housing federal detainees in the Etowah County Detention Center.

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Article published Feb 9, 2004
Tardy INS check comes in

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A check that was more than two months late finally arrived last week from the Immigration and Naturalization Service for Etowah County's housing of detainees in the county jail.
County officials hope their INS fund will not have to continue to borrow money from the general fund to pay for operations while awaiting payment from the federal government.
Sue Woodard, chief clerk for the County Commission, said the county received the check for $342,870 from the Atlanta office of the INS for keeping detainees in October.
The county is in the process of being changed from the Atlanta office to the New Orleans office of the INS. County officials noted they had received the November payment from New Orleans before the October payment was received from Atlanta. They said the New Orleans office had indicated it would try to pay the bills promptly.
Payment for December should be received in a week or so, Woodard said.
She said the payment from INS did not arrive in time for the county to have the money in the account to make the almost $405,000 bond payment for the jail expansion, which was due Feb. 1. She said about $200,000 had to be borrowed from the general fund and that a portion of the money loaned will be reimbursed.
The INS fund still owes the county's general fund about $854,000 from start-up costs related to the expansion, including the hiring of employees for training.
Woodard said she hopes to repay the general fund about $125,000 each month.
"It should start leveling out next month," Woodard said.
The payments to the county are based on a rate of $30 per day. Sheriff James Hayes has said he plans to seek an increase in the day rate.
County Administrator Harry Still III said he hopes to be able to leave
a month's operating expenses in the INS account to cover late payments or other unexpected expenses. He said the general fund would be paid back as quickly as possible.
According to the contract between the commission and the Sheriff's Department, the remaining money - after bond payments and expenses are paid - will be divided between the department and the commission on a 60-40 basis.
Still said money would not be divided between the commission and the Sheriff's Department until the general fund is paid back.
Chief of Corrections Wes Williamson said the number of INS detainees in the jail is down slightly because of the transition from the Atlanta to New Orleans offices. However, he expects the average daily number of detainees to be back up to 325-350 by March 1. He said the county is losing its Atlanta cases and is replacing them with New Orleans cases.
He said he was pleased the INS is now "current" and that should help with the INS budget because the county will not have to wonder when the payments would be coming in.
Late payments from INS have been a problem for the county. At one point last year the INS owed the county more than $650,000, which was more than two months late.
Williamson has projected that at full capacity the INS would pay the county about $3.5 million annually for housing detainees.
The INS had contributed $8.4 million toward the cost of the jail expansion.
The county has had a contract with the INS to house its detainees since 1998.

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Article published Dec 18, 2003
INS tardy with money for county
Delay hurting cash flow

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Etowah County officials are hoping for more than a Christmas card from the Immigration and Naturalization Service this month as the county is owed almost $1 million for keeping INS detainees at the detention center.
More than $650,000 of that amount is at least two months late.
The delay in payments, which has gone on most of the year, is causing the County Commission problems, Chairman G.R. "Cooter" Mosley said.
"It ruins our cash flow," Mosley said. "We've got to pay payroll and expenses out and you're using it up before this comes in. We're having to carry them 60 to 90 days."
He said the INS account has only about $40,000 in it and there are bills due for about $60,000 with two payrolls this month still to be paid.
Bills have been submitted to the Atlanta office for $314,280 for keeping detainees in September and for $343,230 for keeping detainees in October, said Wes Williamson, chief of corrections. He said the INS's New Orleans office, which is now handling the payment for the county detention center, has been sent a bill for November for $300,600. December's bill is expected to be about $320,000.
Williamson said the November bill was sent in early December after the INS and the county reconciled the number of inmate days the agency was to be billed for November.
Williamson said he expected that bill to be processed and paid in 30 days.
He said he hopes that by changing to the New Orleans office the bills will be paid on a timely basis.
Sheriff James Hayes said he was concerned about the late payments and asked U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, to help in getting the payments speeded up.
He said he believes changing to the New Orleans office will be an improvement.
INS officials in Atlanta could not be reached for comment.
Mosley said if the county does not receive payment in the next few days, the commission will have to borrow money from the county's general fund to pay INS bills and the INS payroll.
The county's general fund has already loaned the INS account more than $1 million to pay for hiring employees prior to the 328-bed unit opening last year and also for equipment and other expenses related to the housing of the detainees.
Those funds will be paid back from indirect cost savings the commission recoups from the INS for providing support services.
Mosley and Williamson estimated it would take about a year for the general fund to be reimbursed for loaning the INS account the necessary money. Hayes has loaned the INS fund $55,000 from his discretionary money.
Mosley said eventually the housing of the detainees would be financially beneficial for the county and the Sheriff's Department. He said the money the commission loaned the account will have to be
paid back and the county will have to be paid each month promptly.
Williamson estimated the INS at full capacity would bring in about $3.5 million annually.
He said the county detention center is keeping between 300 and 350 detainees daily. He said there is a great deal of movement in and out every day.
Williamson said the county is running a unit in the detention center just for INS. It depends on the INS money to support it. Williamson said the late payments hurt not only the commission but the Sheriff's Department as well because it also depends on the money to help with operations.
Williamson said it has not been uncommon during the past year for the INS to be as much as three months behind in payments.
He said the county has had a good relationship with Atlanta, with the exception of the late payments, and he hoped that would continue with the New Orleans office.
The county is being paid $30 a day per detainee to keep the INS prisoners. Williamson said the county plans to try to get the day rates increased. He said it has not been increased since the INS began keeping prisoners in Gadsden in 1998.
The INS contributed $8.4 million toward the cost of the detention center expansion, which was completed last year.

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Article published Aug 16, 2003
Troopers set for INS training session

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Alabama will be the first state in the nation to try a pilot project that trains state troopers to deal with immigration issues.
At least 24 troopers from across the state will begin a five-week training session in September with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to learn more about immigration laws, documentation and other issues pertaining to immigration, said Col. Mike Coppage, director of the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
"There is a misconception that these officers are going to go into chicken plants and load up illegal immigrants in a paddy wagon," Coppage said.
That's not the case, Coppage said. "We see this as a resource with field troopers," he said.
The knowledge learned through immigration laws will assist troopers when making traffic stops, in determining if the person is legally in the United States with the proper documents, he said.
The additional training will make troopers more familiar with the laws, allowing them to determine if an immigrant is legal without calling for an INS officer.
The INS officials approached the Alabama Department of Public Safety a few months ago about the pilot project.
"We're pleased to be one of the first to do this," Coppage said.
Coppage, the former police chief of Birmingham, took over as head of the Alabama Department of Public Safety about six months ago.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, has been instrumental in the pilot program.
"We're a country that is friendly to immigrants, but we have immigration laws and they need to be enforced," Sessions said Friday while in Gadsden at an open house at the Etowah County Detention Center.
Sessions said 90 to 95 percent of the law enforcement officers in the country are state and local officers.
He said the state troopers can fill a gap through this program, giving more officers training in the immigration laws.

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Article published Aug 16, 2003
Jail's project with INS praised

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The success with housing U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service detainees in Etowah County could be a sign of more things to come.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, told a group of local, state and federal officials gathered Friday for a tour of the expansion at the Etowah County Detention Center that the relationship between the Etowah County Sheriff's Department and the INS is an unusual one.
Sessions gave no specifics of future endeavors but said the pilot program with Etowah County is working well.
"The success here shows we may can do more in the future," he said.
The jail expansion cost about $13.5 million, with $8.4 million paid for with federal funds.
The plans were expanded to include more space for the county's female inmates. The county paid $5.1 million.
"We're thankful for the opportunity for the partnership with the government," Sheriff James Hayes said.
"It took local, state and federal agencies working together to make this happen."
Hayes first approached the INS with the proposal to expand the jail to house INS inmates in 1999 and the venture was approved in 2001.
The project is the first of its kind in the nation, Sessions said.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, also helped with the project and was on hand for the tour.
"This is a unique facility in the state and I commend the sheriff for having a vision for this," Aderholt said.
Sessions, Aderholt, who was accompanied by his daughter, Mary Elliott, and more than a dozen others involved in the project got their first look at the new part of the jail.
Wes Williamson, chief of corrections, explained the process for the INS detainees, housed in the new section and separately from other state inmates.
The INS detainees are processed when first arriving at the jail much like state inmates, but it is done in an area separate from the state inmates - unlike the process before the expansion was complete.
"The concept is to be running two jails in one," Williamson said.
The detainees are booked and processed, first housed in an area where each is classified according to medical needs or the degree of security needed. The detainees are housed in that area about two weeks.
About 95 percent are housed in the general population of other INS detainees and have no special psychological or medical needs, nor do they have special security needs, Williamson said.
"We have to evaluate them all because of those other 5 percent," he said.
There are two separate housing units - one for medium security and another for maximum security, Williamson said.
The detainees have access to a law library, vending machines and showers and can interact with other detainees several hours a day.
"We try to communicate with folks and treat them as good as they'll let us," Capt. Scott Hassell told the group as they viewed the medium security area.
Detainees were locked down during the tour and the visitors did not tour the maximum security area.
He said the jail as a whole, including the INS detainees, has less violence. Several jails across the state average three to five fights a week, Hassell said.
"We have that many in a year," he said.
The county jail was housing 340 detainees Friday, with 710 inmates total. The total capacity at the facility with the expansion is 796.