SCDJJ opposes Richland County closing jail’s juvenile wing due to overcrowding

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The juvenile wing at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center could be on the verge of closing temporarily.

Richland County leaders approved a motion to accept a recommendation to close the juvenile wing of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

This recommendation comes as the jail faces pressure from the state and federal government to improve living conditions, hire more staff and decrease violence.

At this time, Richland County Administrator Leonardo Brown said there are 27 juveniles detained at the county jail. Fourteen staff members will be freed up to work in the jail if the county stops serving juveniles, Brown said.

Officials with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice said after Tuesday’s meeting they are already overcrowded with juveniles and can’t take any more from Richland County.

A spokesperson with the SCDJJ also said Brown did not have a conversation with SCDJJ about this possibility prior to Tuesday’s public committee meeting.

Previous state inspections found holes in the ceilings, toilet water rushing through the floor of the jail, and holes in the perimeter fencing of the facility. Specific violations were also found in the juvenile ward, including at times two juveniles were housed in one room. In addition, the jail did not have the proper juvenile visitation hours, as accordance with state law, and not all juveniles had access to desks in their rooms.

“If you noticed in all of our inspection reports the focus is mainly on the adult side, because that is what the council is responsible for,” Brown said during Tuesday’s meeting.

Brown suggested to the Detention Center Ad Hoc Committee that the county stop detaining juveniles, because they are not required to, and instead pay a per diem cost to house juveniles at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.

DJJ said counties are required by law to pay $50 each day for each juvenile and that cost “is inadequate to cover the cost of providing detention services to youth.”

“I’m not sure when the county decided to open up its own juvenile facility, but it did some time ago,” Brown said. “Now what we’re doing, because we are trying to focus on the staffing of our adult facility, and the responsibility that the county knows it does have, we’re trying to shift the resources to address those needs.”

A shortage of staff has been an ongoing problem at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. It was even cited in a report following an inspection conducted by the South Carolina Department of Corrections in 2023.

The committee approved Tuesday’s motion. Next, the item will come before the rest of council for a vote.

Jesica Mackey, Richland County Council chairwoman, voiced support for Brown’s idea to close the juvenile wing. She will preside over the next meeting where council will take a vote on the motion.

Department of Juvenile Justice Executive Director Eden Hendrick said in January last year the current juvenile detention center was built in 2001 and designed to hold 72 children and teens as they awaited their trial for no more than 30 days.

Only Charleston and Richland have juvenile wards ― Greenville closed their facility in 2022.

“Adding additional youth to our facilities just exasperates those overcrowded conditions,” Foster said. “Raise the age, which was implemented without proper funding several years ago, has already increased our numbers drastically and this will increase our numbers as well.”

DJJ received money in the current state budget to build a new facility.

“We have a variety of capital improvement projects that are underway to make our facilities more secure and up to date,” said Michelle Foster, director of communications and public information.

Foster said if the county moves forward with the decision to close the juvenile ward of ASG, it would impact the state’s ability from all over the state to help juveniles.

“Since 2022, JDC has been consistently overcrowded because of the Raise the Age legislation and the closure of the Greenville County Detention Center Juvenile Wing,” her statement said. “Raise the Age Legislation was enacted in July 2019 and expanded the jurisdiction of the juvenile system to cover older youth. The agency did not receive any additional funding to implement this change.”

WIS News asked Brown specifically about SCDJJ’s overcrowding.

He replied: “Richland County is going to focus on adhering to the standards that are in place for jails and prison, and those are the standards that we are responsible for addressing. I cannot speak on behalf of the Department of Juvenile Justice. I can’t speak on behalf of their agency, or any issues that they’re having. Those are things that they have to focus on.”

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the county jail for civil rights violations. In addition, the state has threatened the jail numerous times with closure if conditions do not improve.

Brown presented a letter from South Carolina Department of Corrections to county council members part of the special committee that oversees Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Tuesday.

The letter was from Scott Bolman, division director for SCDC’s Jail and Prison Inspection Division, and praised the county for improvements it has made.

Bolman said inspectors came to take a look at the jail and said improvements were “apparent.”

“The renovations in living conditions, health and hygiene, along with security upgrades being conducted and already completed were impressive,” Bolman said in the letter.

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