CHESTER, SC - Chester County has three years to improve the county jail, or the state may order it closed.

The State Department of Corrections and the State Fire Marshal's office have said the facility is outdated and a danger to staff and detainees.

Chester County Manager Avery Frick met with the state officials last week about improvements the county is already trying to make. The installment of a fire detection system are evidence of progress the county needs to show the state, Frick said.

The fire alarm system was supposed to be installed by June 19, but that date has come and gone.

The council approved an emergency contract with a company to install a system.

Officials from that company as well as county fire officials met the state officials along with Frick last week.

When it was working on its budget in early June the council approved the fire alarm system, though it took some haggling..

The prison actually needs a sprinkler system, but if the proper alarm system is installed, state prison and fire officials have said the county may not have to install the sprinkler right away.

Sheriff Robby Benson attended several county budget meeting before June, in part because of the jail issue.

Benson said in June renovations to the jail ordered “back when Johnny Weir was supervisor” were never fully completed. He said the state Fire Marshal's Office and the state Department of Corrections are telling the county it needs to complete the project.

Benson said, the county was told at the time of its first jail project that the fixes would be a “band aid” that would only last about five years.

Two years into the five-year band aid, DOC is again requiring action from the county, Frick said during the budget and again Monday night.

The problems predate Frick's term as manager, and the earlier renovations to the jail also predate his employment.

The state Department of Corrections does not have a problem with the “prison camp,” Benson said, which houses prisoners that have been to court and have been sentenced.

The pre-trial area, or the actual jail, requires more supervision for “detainees.”

Frick said the jail is built in the old, “linear” style.

“You eliminate that, you eliminate most of your problems,” Frick said, referring to a fire safety report from the state that lists several repeated violations.

The state is recommending that the county hire significant extra manpower to supervise the pretrial detainees, Benson said. The DOC can order the county to shut the prison down.

Monday night, Frick told the council shutting the jail down doesn't really eliminate the county's problems.

The county will still have to find somewhere to house inmates awaiting trial, and it costs a lot less “per diem” for the county to house its own inmates than to farm them out to other jails in the area.

Chester County Council approved an emergency contract with Pace Electric Co. for $103,116, the most expensive of the three offers the company made.

Frick said he is usually loath to recommend the most expensive proposal, but did in this case.

The most expensive option would have Pace do all the work.

Frick said the county was under scrutiny from the state, and he wanted to have one person to call up and one person to be held responsible if something wasn't done right.

Benson said in June he has warned county officials repeatedly that the issue was coming up.

The best thing to do would be build a new facility, Benson said.

At Monday night's council meeting, Frick said the state is satisfied at present with the fire alarm system, but only if the county commits to building a new jail.

The current jail could be demolished he said, but it can also be renovated for use as office space.

It cannot continue to be used to house inmates because it is in the linear style, which is now considered a safety hazard.

The problems at the jail was one of three items the council discussed during an extensive closed door meeting Monday night, and the only closed door item the council discussed after returning to open session.

Frick said he met with the state officials for several hours.

The fire alarm system is an answer for the present, but is not a “long-term” answer, Frick said.

“They know we are in a five-year program, and two years have gone by already,” he said.

“They are requiring us to move forward and commit to build the kind of facility we need,” he said.

Frick asked the council to authorize him to write a letter to the state prison agency and the Fire Marshal saying the county intends to find the money and do what needs to be done.

The letter would promise that the council and the citizens of “this great county” will build the facility necessary.”

Councilman Alex Oliphant, who raised the jail renovations as a campaign issue when he ran for the District 6 seat vacated by former Councilman John King, said the council has to come up with a plan to pay for a new jail.

“We have a few options,” he said. “We have little time.”

He didn't discuss the options, though some have said a bond would have to be taken out. Oliphant, in discussing the issue during the campaign with the News & Reporter, said he would be interested in a 1-cent sales tax to pay for the jail renovations, if the state did not increase its sales taxes in an effort to eliminated property taxes.

Frick said the council has to show the state it is making progress. Having the alarm system installed is one sign of progress. A letter promising to do what is necessary would be another sign of progress.

The county has also put $5,000 in the budget for this year to conduct a study of getting the jail done. Frick said he hopes he can get a company to tell the county how it needs to improve the jail enough in time to meet the state deadline.

But closing the county jail is not a viable option, according to Frick.

“You don't eliminate your responsibility by shutting the facility down,” he said.

The council agreed to have Frick write the letter to the state.