BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.—Starting Monday, inmates inside the Hill Finklea Detention Center will have additional space to move around in. After six years, the third floor of the jail is now open.
“It’s been a long process as all of us know. It wasn’t easy to get where we are. There was a lot of work, a lot of time and lot of negotiations that took place to make this happen,” stated Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis.
While the number of inmates booked into the detention center varies, it hovers around 350. Lewis says the new level will help reduce inmate violence and staff turnover while increasing the safety of everyone actively involved with the detention center.
“It’s not easy managing a jail. It’s a very difficult situation. It’s a place where not too many nice things happen, but we have to maintain this facility, the cleanliness of it, and the health of the inmates as well as the welfare of the officers that work here. That’s what we’re going to do,” stressed Lewis.
According to the detention center’s director, Randy Demory, the jail was 47% over capacity prior to opening the third floor.
“Tonight when we tuck everybody in, we’ll still be at 14% over capacity,” stated Demory. “However, we’ve made a lot of headway. We are moving in the right direction.”
Demory says some of the work to get the third floor ready included the help of inmates.
“All the gleaming floors, the painted walls, washed windows—everything you see here was inmate labor,” stated Demory.
For several years, the new floor remained dormant due largely to a lack of funding to staff/operate it.
“When I took office, I stressed that ‘Berkeley County is now open for business’ and ‘Berkeley County means business,’ and this is part of it. We have to ensure that our county is safe. We have to make sure that we run the jail in a practical manner,” stressed Supervisor Bill Peagler. “After taking office, I introduced a budget that increased the salary of emergency personnel and fully funded the hiring of additional detention center officers.”
Lewis stressed that opening the new level of the detention center is just one more step in ensuring the safety of all the residents who call Berkeley County home.
“I want to remind the people, see what we can do when we work together. This is major accomplishment for us,” stated Lewis. “I heard the people of Berkeley County tell me that this was a priority for them. Today we’ve kept that promise to enhance the public safety of Berkeley County.”
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