Necessity for new Graham County Justice Center grows after report
Brad Hoxit
Robbinsville – It’s no secret: the current Graham County Detention Center has maintained a current status long after its expiration date.
Between 30-40 inmates are “housed” at any given time by the jail; of that, only eight beds are on-site. Thus, 80 percent of those in custody are held in other facilities around the region, from Haywood County in Waynesville to Cherokee County in Murphy.
The detention center itself was not built with that workload in mind. Erected in the lower level of the Graham County Courthouse, the waiting area, office space and even bathroom/shower facilities for inmates leave a lot to be desired in the modern-day world.
But while the county continues to explore location options to build a new justice center, an immediate problem has surfaced – one that could get the wheels turning slightly faster on the new facility breaking ground.
At Jan. 23’s board of commissioners meeting, sheriff Brad Hoxit stood alongside his office’s attorney David Wijewickrama.
as concerning information was revealed by the legal counsel: a Jan. 16 inspection report indicated the presence of lead-based paint in the jail. The North Carolina Jail Inspection Program has been notified of the findings and plans to examine further. It was also recommended that judicial officials be brought into the loop on the matter.
“We believe that maintenance of the jail has came into question, regarding the health, safety and welfare of inmates at this time,” Wijewickrama said. “We have followed our rules and regulations. We need to do our due diligence and start exploring serious options about where and how we house our inmates.
He also cited a quote from late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, “When an inmate is in the custody of a jail, he is as defenseless as a newborn child, in regard to his healthcare.” Later, he noted that the engineer’s inspection stated “over a dozen times” that the amount of lead found in the jail are “beyond acceptable safety levels.”
“The office of the sheriff has governmental immunity,” Wijewickrama added. “He has now been put on notice of an unhealthy environment in his jail. If we do not act in a timely manner, we will lose governmental immunities that would apply. If inmates or folks that work in that building begin having problems, we are on notice that it is an environmental concern at this time.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to lead paint can cause high blood pressure, headaches, dizziness, diminished motor skills, fatigue and memory loss. The World Health Organization states that high levels of exposure can induce coma, convulsions and death.
Hoxit stepped up to the podium and said one contractor had proved a quote in the ballpark of $100,000 to perform a “Band-Aid” – simply coating over the lead – but that the temporary fix would only last 3-5 years.
A complete rectification of the matter would cost $1 million, Hoxit stated.
“If we are still in the jail in 3-5 years, the contractor said that they would have to come back and do the exact same thing,” Hoxit said.
“The goal is not to be,” commission chairman Jacob Nelms replied.
A bidding process for temporary repairs is expected to begin soon.
Eventually, the revelation that asbestos was present in floor tiles of the county’s register of deeds office – which is on the top level of the courthouse – came to the surface.
Commissioner Lynn Cody spoke about a 2008 project where roughly $75,000 was spent to eradicate the same problem and his belief that all the asbestos was removed from the courthouse at that time. Clerk of Court Tammy Holloway was present for the meeting and stated that when the project occurred, the asbestos was removed from her office in a complete overhaul – which did not occur in the main lobby nor the adjacent register of deeds office.
EMS vehicles?
Two new ambulances were approved for purchase by Graham County EMS in August 2022. The order for both was placed a month later.
Fast forward 16 months later and director Brian Stevens finally has a ballpark estimate on when the rigs would be delivered. As he put it, the original timeframe of “some point” has been narrowed down to the third quarter … of 2025.
“I reached out to a couple of vendors; that seems to be the market average,” Stevens said.
Stevens explained that the department’s newest ambulance is just three years old and has already logged 78,000 miles; at seven years old, the oldest ambulance is over 140,000. With the frequent need to transport patients for long distances to receive adequate healthcare, the county’s ambulances average 1,000 miles a week. Branching off the previous discussion about applying “Band-Aids,” Stevens instead pitched a the idea of ordering a refurbished ambulance. The delivery time is significantly lower (90-180 days) and the money set aside for the two new ambulances have simply rolled over in both the completed fiscal years since. The estimated price tag would be $250,000 – around $75,000 less than a new one. He also presented a plan to purchase remounted ambulances over a four-year period to make up for the time EMS has waited for the 2022 order.
“I don’t feel like we can sit by and wait for two new trucks until 2025,” Stevens added.
The board agreed, approving the idea of two refurbished ambulances being ordered in a 5-0 vote.