More than 100 Richland jail detainees out of quarantine amid coronavirus positives
More than 100 detainees at the Richland County jail who were quarantined after two employees tested positive have been returned to their regular jail populations, according to the county.
The 110 detainees at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center were quarantined from April 3 to 13, county spokesperson Beverly Harris said.
On April 8, The State reported that two employees of Alvin S. Glenn tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The employees are jailers, the county confirmed.
No detainees tested positive for the coronavirus or showed any symptoms, according to the county.
Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, located in Lower Richland off Bluff Road, has almost 300 authorized employee positions but has struggled in recent years to fill all those positions. Between 750 and 1100 inmates are jailed at the detention center, according to the jail’s website. The jail has holding blocks for men, women and juveniles.
Jail officials have taken precautions to try to prevent an outbreak of the virus.
“The jail trained officers to use universal precautions, which is to treat all detainees as though they are contagious or have a communicable disease,” Harris said.
All incoming detainees are screened for symptoms of the virus. No visitors or volunteers are allowed in the jail and certain jail routines were modified to encourage social distancing.
The public defender’s office for Richland and Kershaw counties has worked with the solicitor’s office to release nonviolent, health-vulnerable detainees from detention centers amid concerns that an outbreak of coronavirus in the jails could be deadly. At least 27 detainees were released from Alvin S. Glenn.
Richland and Kershaw comprise the state’s 5th Judicial Circuit.
In Lexington County, at least seven detainees were released from the detention center through the cooperation of the public defender and solicitor.
Most detainees in county detention centers have only been accused of a crime or crimes. Some are there because a judge denied bond after determining they were a danger to the community or may try to flee the county or state to avoid prosecution. Others are in county jails because they can’t afford to pay the bond, which is the amount of money a judge set for them to get out.
People who are sentenced to 90 days or less imprisonment serve that time in the county detention center rather than in a state prison.
County detention centers are operated by county governments and are not part of the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Some detention centers are run by county sheriff’s offices while others are operated as separate county entities.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:09 PM.