Richland jail suffered a ‘lack of leadership,’ sheriff says. He resists taking it over
The Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center had a “lack of leadership” for years, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said, leading to a multitude of problems at the jail, which has been scrutinized since a September riot that injured two jail officers.
“There’s been a lack of leadership in that jail for quite some time,” Lott said. “This didn’t just happen. We’ve been seeing it for quite some time now with the loss of personnel and issues there. The riot was just the final straw and wake-up call for those responsible for leading the jail.”
The jail was headed by former director Ronaldo Myers for nearly 15 years. Myers retired at the end of September.
While Lott did not directly call out Myers, the jail for years confronted major staff shortages and turnover. The staff shortages came to a head on Sept. 3 when the jail didn’t have enough guards to respond to disorderly inmates who went on to attack two guards, severely injuring one, and wreck a cell block.
Following Myers’ retirement, Richland County Council appointed an interim jail director while searching for a new full time director.
A majority of county detention centers in South Carolina are run by sheriffs, but not Richland’s. One solution for Richland County would be to put the jail under the authority of the sheriff’s department and Lott. But Lott has resisted that.
“I have spoken to Sheriff Lott, the expert, and he has offered his assistance in forming that new plan” for the jail, Councilman Joe Walker III said. “I know the (Richland County Sheriff’s Department) has no interest in the ongoing management of (the jail).”
To fix the jail, the county needs an expert in jailing and that’s not his area of expertise, Lott said.
“With the county we got and the sheriff’s the department the size we got I don’t want to take my attention away,” he said.
Running the jail would distract him from the sheriff’s department’s top priority — preventing crime. If the sheriff’s department was to take over the jail, he’d have over 1,200 employees to manage, Lott said.
County detention centers, which are also called jails, are operated by county governments and are not part of the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
By state law, a county’s sheriff’s office runs the jail. But a law also allows a county government to separate the sheriff’s office from the jail.
“Over time, sheriffs have worked with their county councils to find alternative management arrangements that fit their specific needs,” said Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs’ Association. “Ultimately, the sheriff and county officials have to find the structure that provides their citizens with the highest level of public safety in the most efficient and cost effective manner.”
For decades, Richland county’s jail has operated separately from the sheriff’s office. Articles in The State going back to 1960 address the jail as a separate entity.
Of the 44 detention centers in South Carolina, 33 are run by sheriffs’ offices. Sumter and Lee counties share a jail. So do Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. Whether a county jail is its own entity with a director or the sheriff runs the jail, both answer to the county council, which has the ultimate authority over the jail.
Of South Carolina’s three most populated counties, Greenville and Richland have jails that are independent from the sheriffs’ offices. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office runs its jail. Lexington County’s jail is also run by its sheriff’s office.
Lott said Richland County’s jail should always remain separate from the sheriff’s office.
“Our focus has always been preventing crime not the incarceration of people and holding them until they go to court,” he said.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 12:09 PM.