By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Inmates from a housing unit at the Beaufort County Detention Center have been temporarily moved to a jail in Charleston County due to a plumbing issue in their building.
Fifty-three inmates were transferred from Beaufort County to the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston on Tuesday, March 25, according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.
The inmates are expected to be housed in the Charleston County jail for three weeks while the plumbing issue is fixed at the Beaufort jail.
The Beaufort County Detention Center has struck a deal with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) where they will pay $15 a day per inmate to cover medical care and daily meals, and a one-time $50 fee per inmate to cover the intake and screening process, according the CCSO.
An additional $52 per day will be added if one of the inmates requires a hospital escort during their incarceration in the Charleston County Detention Center. Staff has been provided by Beaufort County to work in the unit where the Beaufort inmates are being housed.
While many the inmates housed in the Beaufort County jail are now in Charleston County, there are some that were not moved due to lack of space.
Reporting by Savannah’s WSAV-TV stated that the remaining inmates have allegedly been exposed to dust and chemical fumes from the plumbing work that is being done without the proper ventilation and their family and friends are concerned that their 8th Amendment rights are being violated, which prohibits inmates from receiving excessive bail, fines and cruel and unusual punishments.
While Beaufort County officials have not confirmed or denied if the inmates had been receiving appropriate ventilation while construction work was going on, they did tell WSAV that the remaining inmates have been moved to separate locations within the detention center, and they hope that moving the inmates will help to solve any issues.
The Island News reached out to relevant officials, but did not receive immediate responses.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
