Autauga County Commission: Sheriff’s jail evacuation was unnecessary

Autauga County Sheriff Mark Harrell evacuates the county jail due to what he called “health and safety concerns,” June 6, 2024 – Photo from WAKA Action 8 News

The Autauga County Commission says that the sheriff’s evacuation of the county jail due to health and safety concerns was unnecessary.

As Action 8 News has reported, Sheriff Mark Harrell evacuated the jail on June 6, sending inmates to be housed in other facilities.

At the time, he released a statement, saying in part, “It will be up to the County Commission to properly and adequately fix the issues to prevent health and safety issues before I, as the sheriff of Autauga County, will place another individual in the jail. We have worked out the logistics with several agencies to house inmates. We have made arrangements to process individuals quickly and house them in a safe environment.”

The County Commission responded Tuesday night with this statement:

“As the entire County Commission showed tonight, we are committed to addressing important issues related to the Autauga Metro Jail, just as we have been for the past several months. Tonight’s meeting made clear that the Commission has a plan to address these issues and that we have already been doing so with the Sheriff and Jail Warden aware of the plan while being actively involved in the process.

“During the latter part of 2022, the Commission hired PH&J Architects to evaluate the various areas of the jail that needed updates. They also evaluated the courthouse during this same time for HVAC/ventilation upgrades, as well as cardlock system upgrades. The Sheriff and Jail Warden were involved in prioritizing the timeline of the jail projects which included replacing the jail roof, replacing jail controls, jail cameras, HVAC/ventilation upgrades, fire alarm system updates and other minor renovations. The roof has already been replaced, and the Commission awarded the bid for the new controls, cameras, and cardlock system at tonight’s meeting. The planning of these projects is no small task and has been a lengthy undertaking which the Sheriff and Jail Warden have actively and continually been involved in and made aware of. 

“The Commission was recently made aware of some concerns that mold might be present in the jail and our staff took immediate action to determine if mold was present and, if so, to what extent. We arranged for several experts in mold remediation to remove any areas of concern but for some reason unknown to the County Commission, the Sheriff’s Office did not allow these professionals to complete the job. Therefore, the Commission consulted once again with PH&J Architects, and they recommended the sight be tested by Environmental-Materials Consultants, Inc. (EMC). In response to this recommendation the Commission immediately scheduled EMC to conduct testing on June 5th, but they were not permitted in the jail on this day, as the stated reason was staffing issues. They were then scheduled by the Commission for June 6, 2024, the same day the Sheriff announced publicly that he would be evacuating the jail. And to be clear, the Commission learned of the evacuation at the same time as the general public and was given no advanced notice even though, we have learned, notice and advanced planning was extended to other individuals and entities. 

“EMC conducted their testing and their samples revealed there is no significant danger of harm due to the environmental conditions of the facility. EMC summarized their findings as follows:

“Mold is present in most environments around the world. There are thousands of types of mold with many types of subspecies. Everyone is exposed to mold spores in office buildings, stores, restaurants in their homes and every day in the natural environment. The types of mold identified at the time of this assessment are very typical and extremely common for most indoor air environments, especially in Alabama. Most individuals with healthy immune systems do not exhibit health concerns or reactions under certain conditions and where spore counts stay within a normal or average range. However, cleaning processes should be in place to address various services if mold is suspect to be present or is clearly visible.”

“EMC’s testing revealed high concentrations of Cladosporium (everyday mold) throughout the jail that need to be remediated. The Sheriff also personally enlisted an expert, A Plus Cleaning and Restoration, which also identified similar trends. There was one area in both expert’s reports which identified a rare concentration of black mold (stachybotrys) but it was located in an isolated area which is in the upper level of the jail that has never been completed or occupied by inmates or staff and the mold was not growing or spreading. 

“In response to the professional evaluations we obtained, the County Commission has requested C. W. Smith, a licensed and bonded general contractor with over 30 years of experience, to include mold remediation, to provide a quote and begin the remediation process and cleaning processes detailed out by experts, beginning as soon as possible, hopefully as quickly as this coming week.

“Based on the reports of the experts, the decision made by the Sheriff to evacuate the inmates, without informing even one Commissioner or the County Administrator, so there could be a discussion or even assistance in planning, has now been determined to have been unnecessary. Unfortunately, this decision has in turn caused an undue financial burden on the taxpayers of Autauga County. Anytime a decision is made to move inmates from one facility to another, the inmate and the law enforcement officer conducting the transport are put at a higher risk of harm. Although we are disheartened by these events, we will continue to make sure that all projects move forward as planned to ensure the health and safety of all citizens and staff.”