Marengo Sheriff responds to Grand Jury jail report

Marengo County Sheriff Richard Bates Thursday responded to the recent Grand Jury report detailing deficiencies the panel saw in the maintenance and upkeep of the jail.

The report, approved at the Marengo County Commission meeting Tuesday, called attention to the need for painting, repairs to the holding cells and cleanliness of the kitchen.

Bates said the area in question that needs paint is small and confined and has a lot of traffic. He said he has painted it once since he’s been in office, but condensate causes problems.

Some of the cells have been painted as well, but, he added, two weeks later the inmates are drawing on it.

Bates said he has put an end to the graffiti by requiring the inmate to buy a gallon of paint before he is released.

Inmates keep tearing up holding cells, Bates continued. He said the cells are pressure washed the first Monday of each month when the jail is cleaned “from floor to ceiling.”

Inmates have stopped up the city sewage system by stuffing uniforms and other trash down the drain pipe in the floor.

As for the condition of the kitchen, Bates said, “We prepare three meals a day. Behind each meal the dishes (are) washed, the floor is swept, the kitchen is mopped.”

He proudly showed the inspection report from the Alabama Department of Public Health from May 21 showing a grade of 95 percent, better than many restaurants, he said.

One member of the Grand Jury suggested inmates should be fed only two meals a day.

Bates said he called the Alabama Sheriff’s Association and talked with the director. The director who informed him “he’d better not catch a sheriff feeding inmates two meals a day.”

“If they’re going to be detained, you cannot deny them food,” the sheriff continued.

Some inmates have diabetes, he added, and must be given a fourth meal before bed to keep their sugar level up. All this has to be done on $1.75 per day per inmate.

Money begins to run out at this time of the year, Bates said.

“I definitely will be asking the commission for more money for cleaning supplies and toilet articles that won’t have to come out of the jail fund,” he said.