Jail officials detail crowded conditions

FARMINGTON — Double-bunking, prisoners sleeping in hallways and regular equipment breakdowns are only some of the problems of trying to run a jail built for 192 inmates but often has more than 500, the Davis County Commission was told this week.

The jail, built and occupied in 1991, has experienced overcrowding for several years, said Kevin McLeod, chief deputy in the Davis County Sheriff's Office. Inmate population is expected to grow to 749 in the next five years, he added.

County commissioners have approved putting a general obligation bond for $24.8 million on the Nov. 2 ballot and letting taxpayers decide if they want to build a jail expansion.

Some 1,800 meals are prepared each day in the kitchen, McLeod said Tuesday. Thirteen years of heavy use of the equipment results in frequent failures and expensive repair work, he added. The same is true for the laundry, with its two washers and two dryers.

"With 12 inmates working in the kitchen, plus two staff cooks, the current kitchen is bursting at the seams. The work space is really crowded. From a security standpoint, we don't have a clear view of what the inmates are doing because of all of the pots and pans, serving trays and kitchen equipment in the middle of the room," McLeod said.

Clothing inmates is no small task. The jail processes approximately a ton of dry weight laundry per day. When there is a breakdown in equipment or need for washer and dryer repair, the situation becomes even more critical, he said. "Existing equipment is costly to fix. Recently, replacing drums on the two 11-year-old washers cost $6,000 each."

Space limitations, he added, prevent the purchase of additional, modern equipment.

If voters approve bonding for a new jail addition, McLeod said the new addition would include an expansion of the kitchen, glass windows in the hallways to provide improved visibility of inmate kitchen workers, modern kitchen equipment and adequate storage space for food inventory.

The Davis County Citizens Jail Committee, formed in August 2003, studied the jail issue for several months and concluded that under current conditions, the public safety of Davis County residents is being jeopardized and the safety of jail staff is at risk because of overcrowding.

The committee's full report is on the county Web site at www.daviscountyutah.gov.

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