Our Jail Is Not a Nice Place.
- May 2
- 3 min read
Neglect and underfunding have caused unsanitary and unsafe conditions at our Camden County Jail. Yes, the place is pretty nasty. That’s what happens when the property is considered expendable rather than being treated as a necessary asset.
No one disputes that the Camden County Jail is disgusting. In fact, many of us think jails should be a place that no one wants to go. Shouldn't a night in jail be a deterrent? “Don’t do the crime and you won’t do the time” in a nasty jail. The best thing that could happen eventually is that Camden County has a jail with lots of empty nasty beds. Let the bad guys go do their crime elsewhere where they have the comfy jails.
Keep in mind that our jail also holds people who have been accused of, but have not been convicted of, a crime. The innocent should not be housed as if they have been convicted. That's creates a new idea that should be considered: How about we build a small new jail for pre-trial detention with a very strict incarceration limit of 30 days or so to allow Judges to determine bail, accomplish extradition for those we incarcerate with warrants from other jurisdictions, and to set trial dates when justified. Make the Criminal and District Attorneys do their jobs faster so taxpayers don’t have to build a bigger jail and pay for bed and breakfast for even more prisoners. In fact, the threat of harsh time in a nasty jail might even discourage new violations of the law and Camden will be even safer for the law-abiding. Losing your freedom behind bars in a "comfy" jail but knowing that a miserable jail awaits when you are convicted might be a good deterrent. A time limit will certainly deter trial delays initiated by the accused.
But our current jail is shameful. It is unnecessarily hard on those awaiting trial and the jailors, too. Broken kitchen and laundry equipment, coupled with plumbing issues, and vermin infestations, are common complaints. Good hygiene in jail is often about more than a detainee’s willingness to keep clean. Overcrowding, facility maintenance, and mental health issues also all play a role.
In addition to providing enough toilet paper and food, some believe that jails should provide rehabilitation services and mental health treatment to inmates. But that's a different discussion for another time. There’s even talk about using a new Camden County Jail to provide Animal Rescue and Pet Adoption Services as a “correctional industry” since all inmates are “expected to work.” That sounds reasonable.
We've been told a new Jail will cost about 50 million dollars, mostly paid by taxes on Camden County residents and property owners. We haven’t been shown a single document about the proposed new jail’s size, number of beds, or costs yet, but according to officials, the next step is “to buy land for the new Jail.” That’s seems to be like putting the “cart before the horse.” We’re already paying a SPLOST TAX totaling $10,000,000 towards a new jail and “public safety complex.” The fine print in SPLOST 9 says that if the money voters thought might go to the GA/FL Sports Tourism Project comes up short, those funds will be transferred to the new JAIL. Since some of that SPLOST infrastructure is already in the ground, it looks like the Jail will take precedence over other taxpayer’s services like our parks --- same as always.
If our County Commissioners are really smart, they will treat the current old jail as a long-term county asset and modernize it to the extent that is necessary. And maybe build a new smaller “pre-trial” facility for detainees awaiting case disposition. But no Taj Mahal for prisoners serving time for their crime.