On most nights, more than 400 Mecklenburg County jail inmates are forced to sleep on the floor.

Sheriff Jim Pendergraph said the overcrowding is becoming dangerous and something must be done.

He plans to meet with County Manager Harry Jones this week to propose a quick fix -- possibly modular buildings -- and push to get a referendum for jail construction bonds on the ballot this fall.

"I don't care if they are sleeping on the floor -- it's not about the inmates," he said. "But it's a safety issue, when you get 75 to 80 staying in an area designed to hold 56. You can feel the tension in the air. It's a bad situation."

At night, when each inmate should be locked alone in a room, about two dozen men per pod sleep side by side in a common area on plastic cots and thin mattresses that lift them a few inches off the floor. Their bedding and personal belongings are stored in plastic containers pushed against the wall.

Pendergraph is paying overtime to have two detention officers, instead of one, monitor each area. And he's seen a rise in the number of assaults on his staff, he said.

In 2000, the average daily population of Mecklenburg's jails was 1,612. No beds have been added, said spokeswoman Julia Rush, but the average population now is nearly 2,600.

Last year, voters approved $14 million to add beds for teenage inmates and to build a vocational center for inmates, both at Jail North in northern Charlotte. Those additions are in the planning stages but will not help with the overcrowding, Rush said.

Jail overcrowding is a problem across the region.

Catawba, Alexander and Cabarrus counties also have had inmates sleeping on the floor at times this year. Last month, Cabarrus County shuttled prisoners to other counties because the sheriff didn't have enough room to hold everyone. Last year, Cabarrus leaders agreed to build a jail annex after the state's inspector threatened to shut down the jail because of overcrowding.

The Mecklenburg jails -- Central and Work Release in uptown and North -- can hold a total of 2,694 inmates. Rush said the overflow is in the men's sections; they have unused beds in pods set aside for women and sick inmates, but they aren't moveable and the groups can't be mixed.

Pendergraph said he's seen a spike in the jail's population during the past two years and doesn't expect the population to level off.

He blames the problem mostly on the backed-up court system. Fewer inmates are able to make bond, he said, and it's taking longer for their cases to go to court.

Nearly 40,000 people were booked into the jail last year. Inmates stay an average of 16 to 18 days, but Rush said some have been there years awaiting trial.

Pendergraph said the newest inmates sleep on cots, then get moved when beds open.

He has included new jail construction in his version of his budget for at least three years but said it's never gotten much attention. The county owns property at Jail North and could expand the facility there.

County commissioners Chairman Parks Helms said that he knows the need is critical but that commissioners have to balance it with other needs, in particular school construction.

The sheriff has asked for about $140 million to build more jail space, Helms said. Commissioners are also considering a November 2007 schools referendum in the range of $400 million. Helms said the board must think about the impact on taxpayers.

"He's got a problem. The sheriff is right. There is no disagreement there," Helms said. "The dilemma we are dealing with is how do we respond in a fiscally and responsible manner. We have to look at all of it together. The needs of the school system are not going to stop."

Jail overcrowding could be eased if the state would better fund the courts, Helms said.

"The problem is, we will never be able to build enough jails to adequately serve the county unless the judicial system is able to process cases quicker than they are now," he said. "A large part of (the overcrowding) is people awaiting trial."

Helms said that he is willing to consider a bond referendum and that it may not be too late to get one on the ballot.

But even if a bond is approved this fall, Pendergraph said, it would take up to four years to build an addition -- and that's too long. His staff is looking into the possibility of putting inmates in modular buildings.

"We are going to have to look at temporary housing somewhere," he said. "We are out of space now, and there is no quick solution." 448 inmates slept on the floor Friday.

Packed Cells

Average daily population, Mecklenburg County jails. No beds have been added during the period.

2000 2006

1,612 almost 2,600

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