- The jail, designed for 400 inmates, currently holds 230, raising concerns about health and safety.
- The facility’s outdated plumbing, drainage, and security systems require urgent attention.
- Watch what the county has planned to fix the jail issues and what the expected timeline is.
BROADCAST SCRIPT
Aging facilities and inadequate resources are making the Thomasville jail harder to run.
As the county plans for repairs, I have a look at some of the biggest concerns.
The Thomasville jail, built 32 years ago, is now struggling under outdated infrastructure and overcrowding.
“It was designed to last 20 years, and we’ve done a pretty good job maintaining it, but now we need to do some serious upgrades to it,” said Watkins.
Currently housing 230 inmates, the jail is only at half of its official capacity of 400.
But overcrowding is a real concern.
“I think you’d have ventilation issues, diseases, or infections,” said Burgess.
Another issue is the need for separate spaces to house inmates who deal with mental health issues.
“When we opened in 1992, Southwest State Hospital was still here. Mental health patients were taken out to the hospital, but now, they end up in jail, and we have no way of securing them from the general population,” said Watkins.
Beyond the need for new, separate units, basic infrastructure is also failing.
Pipes, drainage, air conditioning, and even exterior doors are at risk of complete breakdown.
“All that stuff is like black cast iron, it’s outdated, corroding, and failing,” said Burgess.
Those issues are expected to be fixed through a 12 million-dollar plan to bring in new technology for security, online visitation, and infrastructure upgrades.
It’s coming from SPLOST funding expected to hit in mid-2025.