DOJ: Hinds County jails 'in crisis'

The Department of Justice has found that Hinds County's jail facilities are "facilities in crisis."

According to the DOJ findings, they have failed to protect prisoners from violence by other prisoners and improper use of force by staff, that the county violates prisoners' constitutional rights, and that prisoners are detained beyond court-ordered release dates.

"Hinds County Adult Detention Center and the Jackson City Detention Center are facilities in crisis," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. "Making these facilities safe will require broad systemic reforms and a local commitment to improve staffing and operations. The jail facilities play an integral part in the county's criminal justice system, and it will take cooperation between everyone involved to make the changes needed. The Civil Rights Division looks forward to working with county officials to bring these facilities into compliance with constitutional standards."

The DOJ released a 29-page report Thursday detailing systemic deficiencies in the 594-bed facility in Raymond, built in 1994, and the 192-bed facility in Jackson, built in 1974, which contribute to serious harm and risk of harm at the jail facilities.

Sheriff Tyrone Lewis said his department was not surprised by anything in the report.

"This highlights what we've been saying since we were in office since 2012," Lewis said. "We appreciate what the DOJ has come in and done. It echoes everything that we've said about the issues and the flaws that we've been dealing with, including the relationships that we should be having with the components that make up the jail system and the criminal justice system."

The report states that in the past three years, at least three major riots occurred, resulting in one prisoner's death and the closing of entire housing units. The DOJ also documented rampant prisoner-on-prisoner violence, including an additional prisoner-on-prisoner homicide and a remarkable volume of contraband.

"The Hinds County detention facilities have an obligation to provide conditions of confinement that do not offend the Constitution," said U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis of the Southern District of Mississippi. "This office will work with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to address and remedy the violations revealed by the investigation."

The DOJ commended county officials and jail facilities staff, specifically Sheriff Tyrone Lewis, the County Board of Supervisors, former administrator Dianne Gatson Riley, and others for their cooperation and receptivity to the department's concerns and looks forward to continuing to work with them in a collaborative manner to resolve the department's findings expeditiously and under mutually agreeable terms.

The department also voiced concern that delays through the court system in indicting prisoners, obtaining forensic mental health review, and bringing cases to trial may lead to unnecessary and prolonged incarceration, draining much-needed resources from the jail facilities. The longest period of over-detention was for a 13-year-old middle school student, who was held a total of 173 days at the jail facilities without an indictment, 70 days over.

Lewis and members of the board have openly welcomed the probe, saying it should help unearth the roots of the problems that the facilities are having. Many measures to fix the problems have been taken since the end of the investigation, according to county officials, including the addition of cameras and dogs in the Raymond facility, as well as a new ceiling. Inmates had been pulling the metal ceiling tiles out and making weapons from them as well as traveling inside the ceiling.

The questions about staffing have been brought up in discussions of the salaries of the jailers, who make $1818 a month before taxes, insurance, and retirement are taken out. In addition, a criminal investigation into the escape of several inmates from the downtown facility has resulted in three firings and two arrests, and officials said they expect more to come.

"We're doing the best we can to house them and we're trying to move along and do our part with staffing, and staffing has been an issue," Lewis said. "So we're doing everything we can collectively and creatively to house them to the best of our ability."

The DOJ found systemic deficiencies in staffing; policies and training; security and classification procedures; physical plant and maintenance; contraband control; and administrative review and other accountability measures to prevent, detect and investigate improper uses of force.

In an effort to address staffing and security concerns, Hinds County has locked down and otherwise improperly housed prisoners, severely limiting or eliminating access to treatment, education, exercise and visitation, the DOJ said.

The department noted that juvenile prisoners and prisoners with mental illness are acutely harmed by the lockdowns. One prisoner, who could neither speak nor hear, had been living in a cramped, dark booking cell with a reeking toilet for nearly three years.

The department also found that inadequate staffing and training, a backlog in record filing, and a lack of centralized information have resulted in prisoners being held beyond court-ordered release dates. The delays, most of which were between one and ten days, arose in a variety of circumstances, including after judges ordered prisoners released for lack of probable cause, for lack of prosecution, after adjudication of a guilty plea, and after requisite contempt fines had been paid.

Lewis said his department will continue to work toward bettering the facilities while stipulating that the problems have been in place for many years.

"They were going on prior to this administration, and when we did our assessments coming in we do know there were issues prior to us, and there are documents that show these were issues since the inception and the opening of the Raymond facility," Lewis said. "It's my understanding that the DOJ was going to come here prior to my administration taking office, and it landed on my watch, which we appreciate and we respect."

The department's investigation involved in-depth review and analysis of documents, including policies and procedures, incident reports, grievances, legal complaints and grand jury inspection reports. The department also interviewed jail administrators, staff, prisoners, county officials and various criminal justice stakeholders.

The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act authorizes the department to seek a remedy for a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the constitutional rights of persons confined in a jail, prison or other correctional facility. The Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit pursuant to CRIPA forty-nine days after issuance of the findings letter to correct deficiencies identified in the letter if county officials have not satisfactorily addressed the concerns.