By Miles Layton

WINDSOR — Insurance money is paying for repairs to the Bertie-Martin Regional Jail and for housing inmates in other counties while the damaged facility sits empty, Martin County Manager Drew Batts told the Bertie County Board of Commissioners on Monday.

Batts said the county has been approved for up to $500,000 in insurance reimbursements tied to the June takeover of the jail. So far, he said, just over $250,000 has been spent. Of that total, around $100,000 has been spent toward cleanup, including professional cleaning and concrete grinding. The remainder, about $150,000, however, has gone to neighboring counties that are holding inmates from Bertie and Martin.

“Most of the payments out of this insurance fund so far are to other counties, neighboring counties, for housing inmates,” Batts said.

The jail has been closed since June 29, when inmates overpowered correctional officers and seized parts of the building in an hours-long standoff that ended without loss of life. Inmates were moved to other facilities, and the building has been closed since.

Batts told commissioners that it costs $75,000 a month to house detainees elsewhere, a figure he gave at an Oct. 29 community forum in Williamston.

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More from Monday’s Bertie County Commission meeting will appear in future stories.

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Timeline slipping

Batts said he has pushed the repair contractors to finish within 60 to 90 days, but the company says 90 days is more realistic.

“I’m gonna keep pressing them, but I’m not making much headway,” Batts said.

The county is now looking at the end of January for some form of occupancy. Batts said that affects hiring and staffing plans.

“So we need to adjust accordingly when it comes to hiring and staffing and understand when we need to hit those timelines,” he said.

Batts said the contractors’ main concern is the calendar. Three holidays fall in the window, which means roughly three weeks when many companies will not be working. The jail doors and other security materials are also hard to get quickly. Batts said the contractor told him the items are “not off the shelf.”

Batts said officials walked the facility last week with the contractors and compared each door to the drawings. The contractors have since confirmed that everything has been ordered, though some earlier orders had to be placed separately because of the specialized materials.

The county is working with Mosley Contracting, which is handling the drawings and design, and Montgomery Technologies, a subcontractor that will do the physical repair work. Batts said the county passed a resolution early on to bypass the bidding process because of the urgency, and the companies have responded.

“I can’t complain with the responsiveness so far,” he said.

Batts said Lashanti Jones, the interim jail administrator, can vouch for the contractors’ willingness to work with the county.

Batts said the contractors have also agreed to start on some quick repairs, such as roll-up doors, exterior doors and entrance doors that are not specific to jail security. Those could be finished within a week or two and would save time later.

Batts said the repaired jail may end up better than it was before.

Batts said the county’s immediate goal is to reopen 12 to 20 cells as an intake facility by the end of January. That would give law enforcement a place to hold people for 24 to 48 hours while bonds are processed or longer-term arrangements are made.

Right now, he said, officers must find an available bed in another county as soon as they make an arrest. An intake facility would let deputies keep someone closer to home without making calls at a moment’s notice.

“The main thing is that the facility is functional and is safe when we open it back up,” Batts said.

He said he wanted commissioners and Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin to understand how urgent the situation is.

“I just want y’all to know that this is of the utmost importance that we get somewhere to house our inmates as soon as possible, and I think we’re doing everything we can to work toward that,” Batts said.

Tracking mileage and fuel

Batts said the high cost of fuel and wear and tear on vehicles from transporting inmates are concerns; he asked both counties to keep records of every mile driven and every gallon of fuel used to take inmates to other counties, saying the paperwork could help recover some of the money.

“We are trying to get reimbursed for every expense that we can,” Batts said.

Batts said the expenses must be directly attributable to the event and the loss of the jail. He urged officials to collect as much data as possible so it can be submitted. He said the jail is also working to document expenses.

Last thing, Commissioner Ronald Roberson asked whether local officials could do anything to speed up trials and reduce the number of inmates held elsewhere.

“That will cut the cost,” Roberson said.

Roberson said he had heard of a county that does not hold people for more than 45 days.

“Well, there’s a county that tells me that they don’t hold a person for 45 days,” Roberson said.

Batts said he was skeptical but interested.

“I’d like to see the documentation on it because that would be awesome,” Batts said.

Batts said he raised the issue of speedy trials about a month ago in a meeting at the governor’s office. He said the state would move faster if it could.

“If they could get speedy trials in the state of North Carolina, they would get speedy trials,” Batts said.

He said that for the past eight months he has worked with Martin County Clerk of Superior Court Amanda Bramble, who helps pick cases that might move through the courts more quickly. Every week, he said, the two review a report of inmates and look for the “low hanging fruit.” He said the effort has produced some improvement.

Batts said Bramble has also been handling first appearances locally in some cases, so defendants do not have to be taken to a facility such as Catawba County just for that proceeding.

Batts said jail reports organized by where inmates originate have also helped. The reports let him focus on cases from the judicial district and made the information easier to read.

“I think everybody’s working together, trying to be a little bit creative in how we handle this stuff,” Batts said.

Roberson described a recent weekend when deputies had no place to take a defendant who had committed another offense. He said officers called a judge around 12:30 a.m., and the judge arranged for a magistrate to set a bond.

Batts thanked commissioners for their support and welcomed ideas from Bertie County officials, including those with experience in the bonding business.

“Anything that you can think of that would help us out, please, please do,” Batts said.