Editor’s note: This is the second part of a three-part series providing an in-depth look at the Baldwin County Jail facility.
What does an average day hold for an inmate at the Baldwin County Jail?
It varies, said Major Jimmy Milton.
“Depending on the day of the week, we’ve got different things going on for our inmates,” Milton said.
There are religious services held for the inmates once a week, as well as AA and NA meetings.
“We have non-denominational groups that volunteer to come in and minister to the inmates,” Captain Greg Thicklin said. “The inmates get an hour every Wednesday for religious services and an hour for AA or NA. They can also make requests for chaplains to come in and talk for possible counseling if they ask for it.”
Baldwin County’s jail doesn’t offer much vocational training, since the average stay for inmates is around 90 days, not giving them the sort of time necessary to complete programs.
“They aren’t here long enough to have programs like that to take effect,” Milton said. “In the past, we had a GED program we were running through here. Though they may not be here long enough to finish, they could start and possibly pick it back up and finish once they have been released from the facility.”
Milton said the former facilitator for that program could not continue to partnership on their end, but he and other officials were looking into possibly bringing some sort of GED program back into the facility.
“We’re looking into a program that we could utilize through tablet computers, as that’s something we’re considering possibly working with here,” Milton said. “On those tablets, a lot of the vendors offer GED programs.”
Milton said the jail’s food service vendor, Aramark, has a training program for inmates looking to possibly enter the restaurant or food service industry.
“We have inmates that work in our kitchen, and that inmate could start in a program that would, in essence, teach them how to work in a kitchen,” Milton said. “If and when they complete that, they can actually utilize that for gainful employment once they’re released.”
Inmates receive three meals per day made in the jail’s kitchen through the work of staff and inmate help.
Sheriff Hoss Mack said all of the county jail’s meals are prepared by Aramark Industries - a food vendor who also provides services to several universities and hospitals across the state.
Mack said the meals follow a full dietary plan approve by a dietitian, and that 21 different meal plans are currently available for inmates.
“A lot of those are governed by medical conditions and other health issues inmates might have,” Mack said. “Any deviation from our dietitian approve plan has to be signed off on by a physician.”
Milton said he also often samples meals and said the food is actually quite good.
“Honestly, there are times I’d rather eat what we’re serving here at the jail than from some restaurants out there,” Milton said.
Inmates are also allowed time to socialize with one another in common areas in the different cell blocks throughout the day and they can sign up to take advantage of the jail’s newly updated communications system to talk to family members and loved ones.
“Through the new computer based communications system we have now, family members don’t have to drive all the way up here to Bay Minette and have to communicate from behind the glass like the used to,” Milton said. “We still have the ability to monitor any communications but it does make it easier for our inmates to be able to talk with their loved ones.”
There is also a health care facility on site for inmates in need of care, including dental issues and problems from drug withdrawal.
“We have every day, 24-7, RNs and LPNs on staff to handle most needs,” Ellen Najdowski, director of nursing, said. “We also have a physician on call, a dentist on call and mental health professional that can come in when needed.”
The jail also recently renovated facilities in the medical wing to include new rooms that can be used to house handicapped inmates that may have greater health needs.
Regardless of what goes on day to day within the jail, jail officials say they want the public to know they’re just there to try to keep the people in their care safe from harm.
“The public sometimes looks at it like we’re doing people wrong, but we’re not,” Lieutenant Calvan Means said. “We’re good people and we’re taking care of the folks here 24-7. We’re not putting anyone in harm’s way. We actually get to know the inmates pretty well while they’re here, try to understand them and help them not make decisions that are going to have them end up back here again.”
Milton agreed.
“What I always tell our staff here is that with our inmates, this is someone’s sister, brother, cousin, mother, father, aunt or uncle,” Milton said. “We’re here for care and custody. The courts over there determine punishment. We’re just here for care and custody.”
Milton said their goal is to provide inmates with the resources and help they need to try to return to society.
“A lot of people don’t realize what it takes to provide care and custody to provide for their needs in here,” Milton said. “Every need they’ve got in the free world, we have to be able to provide in here. We have people that come into this jail that would prefer to be here than to walk around free. That’s a sad commentary on some of their lives outside.”
Budget numbers
Looking at the money it takes to run a jail like Baldwin County’s, the largest budget items are what one would likely suspect: employee salaries, food and medical expenses.
For the current fiscal year, $7.3 million has been budgeted for employee salary and benefits, with almost $5.3 million actually allocated thus far during this year. Actual costs for labor and benefits in 2016 was $6.48 million and $6.74 million in 2017.
The medical services contract for the jail is slightly over $1.75 million for the fiscal year. Year to date, $1.18 million has been spent, while $1.52 million was spent in 2017.
Hospital services costs for the jail in FY 2017 hit slightly over $374,000, while for the current fiscal year only $155,652 has been spent.
Food for county jail inmates has been a hot topic this year in the state of Alabama, after it was reported several sheriffs were cutting spending on their food budgets and pocketing the surplus.
During a March 2018 Baldwin County Commission meeting, Sheriff Hoss Mack gave a presentation on his department’s spending for jail inmate meals and said that wasn’t the case in Baldwin County, as inmate meal spending is actually funded at a deficit from the state.
“Meals cost $1.13 each or $3.38 per day,” Mack said. “The state gives us $1.75 per day to feed an inmate, so we’re losing $1.63 per day.”
With an average of 500 to 510 inmates per day in the Baldwin County jail facility, that amounts to an almost $815 per day loss that has to be made up.
Mack said he uses a housing agreement with the federal government and the city of Bay Minette to help bridge the funding gap on inmate meal plans.
Mack said he has never taken any money from the food account as personal income and he also makes sure he samples some of the meals himself several times a month.
Based on an average inmate population of 510 inmates per day, the county spends roughly slightly over $629,000 per year on food for the inmates.
