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By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

The good news: the crime rate is down in Davie County.
More good news: the sheriff’s office is booking more inmates into the detention center than ever before.
Now the bad news: the detention center is falling apart, and state inspectors are letting Sheriff J.D. Hartman, who is responsible for the jail, know.
Speaking to county commissioners at their work session Jan. 30, Hartman said in 2024 the county’s crime rate dropped by 8.6%. “That’s tremendous. That’s my staff working diligently and hard to protect the citizens of Davie County.”
At the same time, the number of people booked at the detention center rose from 990 to 1,036. There are 72 beds in the center, with an average daily census of 75.
Hartman is housing some female inmates in a neighboring county, a move that costs at a minimum $82,000 more per year.
And he thinks the county’s delay in starting construction on a new jail is causing negative reports from state inspectors.
Commissioners delayed building the new jail in 2022, when they learned cost estimates from 2020 had risen some $11 million, to $27.1 million. The new estimate is $37 million, up from $35 million a year ago.
“The state has started to get onto us,” Hartman said.
He mentioned a required smoke suppression system that inspectors say must be in working condition. It wasn’t installed as thought when the current site was built in 2020. The buttons to make the system work were installed, but not the system. Hartman said that in addition to that, he isn’t able to isolate inmate pods to where smoke couldn’t escape.
That would cost more than $1.4 million.
Other issues at the current jail: doors don’t work properly; some toilets are from the 1950s; windows need replacing; there are cracks in walls; there is nowhere to isolate an inmate; the classroom is temporary; and there are no facilities for staff.
The county is facing worker’s compensation claims from employees who have been subjected to having feces thrown on them, he said. A new jail would allow him to isolate such inmates.
For 20 years, the detention center passed inspections, even with problems, Hartman said. That was before commissioners decided in 2022 to delay building a new facility because the cost had risen from $16.1 million in 2020 to $27.1 million in 2022.
“In my opinion, it’s their warning. You’re not moving forward, so we’re going to get stricter and stricter. We had a plan, and we’ve reached a point where when they come back, I can’t tell them we’re progressing. I don’t know.”
Brad Blackwelder, director of the county’s general services department, presented a capital improvement plan that included $37 million in the 2027 budget for a new detention center. It didn’t include where those funds would come from, but said he expects the $37 million cost to remain the same. There are no ways to make major cuts, he said. “We have cut this down to the bare bones.”
Commissioner Terry Renegar asked what costs for repairs could be saved if the county decides in June to go ahead with jail construction. “Could we buy enough time with the state?”
Hartman couldn’t answer that question, but said he expects the inmate population to continue to increase as the county’s population increases.
Blackwelder said it would take 2.5-4 years before a new jail could open after being approved by the board.