Jan. 14—A consensus among the Lee County commissioners is to begin taking steps toward construction of a new detention center.
The informal decision was made during the annual retreat last week where the commissioners were updated on the county’s status in the past year and begin planning for goals they want to achieve in 2025.
The status of the current Lee County Jail and Sheriff’s Office building was the most discussed issue.
The directors of the county’s General Services and Development Service offices, Assistant County Manager Jennifer Gamble and Sheriff Brian Estes, presented data on the status of the building that houses the jail and the sheriff’s office.
The structure was built in 1992 under the 1991 state building codes and doesn’t meet current standards in several areas.
A study done last year by Moseley Architects found several code and safety violations — which require repair or replacement.
“The Lee County Jail operates within an aging building that does not have the necessary infrastructure to meet the current building code requirement,” Moseley representatives wrote. “There are deficiencies in the mechanical system; the security systems are old and outdated and in need of an upgrade.”
Estes gave a first-hand account of problems caused by the facility.
The lack of space makes it difficult to house inmates involved in the same case.
“We had a case of four people robbing people and posing as law enforcement officers,” Estes said. “The four aren’t supposed to be housed in the same facility.”
Six beds at the Central Prison in Raleigh have been designated for use by Lee County, but they are in the general population which is a possible safety hazard for the inmates.
There’s little room to require isolation in the case of something like the coronavirus.
“During Covid, running the jail was a nightmare. We didn’t have a place to (isolate) for 10 days. If people come into jail sick or intoxicated, there’s nowhere to put them,” Estes said.
The jail’s capacity is about 90 inmates. Currently, there are 121 inmates with 21 jailed on murder charges, Estes said. At least one person charged with murder has been in jail since 2020.
“The inmates aren’t going anywhere. There’s lots of reason for the backlog. During (the coronavirus) there was no Superior Court for two years,” Estes said.
The commissioners were given three options to consider, including taking no action or expanding the jail at its current site. That would require rezoning for some of the property and would affect the operations at the Lee County Courthouse for a length of time.
The third option is building a new detention facility that would also house the Sheriff’s Office. The commissioners agreed informally to pursue that route, perhaps building a new facility in phases.
A new building would cost about $87 million, County Manager Lisa Minter said, and a site would need to be selected and purchased.
That could take up to a year, Gamble said.