Sheriff says repairs at Nash County jail might not be enough to make it safe
From the outside, the Nash County jail looks like a sturdy brick building.
Inside, inspectors say it still needs significant work.
The county is working on repairs, and while some of the inmates have returned after being housed in neighboring counties, Sheriff Keith Stone says the jail won’t be safe until bigger changes are made.
“Still having the same thing – you are just painting over rust,” Stone said.
Stone said he’s concerned that repairs are just temporary fixes.
“There needs to be a serious look at either a complete renovation of the jail we’ve got here, whether that or build a new jail,” Stone said.
The current design of the jail, he said, “is incredibly dangerous."
Several inmates sleep, shower and eat together in the same dorms.
“There are, like, 40 inmates in there, ranging from a murderer to a speeder, and they can get up anytime they want in this open-bay setting,” Stone said. “Gangs run amok in here because there is no confinement.”
Robbie Davis, the chairman of the Nash County Board of Commissioners, said officials are working with a company to consider larger structural changes.
Stone said he’s not sure when all inmates will be able to return to the jail. About 100 are still being held in other counties.
Twice in 2019, inmates escaped from the jail by punching holes in the fence surrounding the exercise yard, and in the second case, a lock on a door to the yard either malfunctioned or was "sabotaged," Stone said at the time.
Inmates also started several fires in the jail last year using wires from electrical outlets or light fixtures, authorities said.
