Records shed light on Jackson jail death
While unanswered questions remain in the recent death of 49-year-old Franklin resident Melissa Middleton Rice, which occurred on Jan. 18 while in custody of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, public records reveal new information about the hours leading up to her ultimately fatal collapse.
SBI investigating Jackson jail death
The recent death of a Jackson County Detention Center inmate has spurred a probe from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.
Women behind bars: Female jail population quadruples since 1970
Women make up the fastest growing segment of inmates in the U.S. correctional system.
According to a 2016 study conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice, the number of women in jail grew from under 8,000 in 1970 to over 110,000 in 2014 and nearly half of them are in small county jails.
Snapshots of WNC jails: Not all jails are created equal
In a criminal justice system that is often operated under rigid regulations and protocols, people may be surprised to find the disparities within the walls of local jails.
All the jails have the same basics — sally port, booking area, magistrate office, holding cells, inmate pods and control rooms with security cameras — but each facility is set up a little differently.
To build or not to build: Sheriffs assess need for future jail expansion
When county jails are constantly at or over capacity, the easiest answer seems to be to build a bigger one.
High pressure, low pay: Detention officers pay price for crowded jails
Taxpayers aren’t the only ones paying the price for the growing number of incarcerations and overcrowded jails.
Covering the rural jail crisis
Many rural county jail populations are growing at a higher rate than urban county jails or even state prisons, according to research done by the Center on Sentencing and Corrections at the Vera Institute of Justice.
Macon cancels jail food contract with Mission
To combat the rising cost of feeding inmates, Macon County commissioners chose to ditch a $360,000 food contract with Mission Health and Angel Medical Center for a less expensive option.
No charges will be filed in Jackson jail suicides
No charges will be filed following suicides at the Jackson County Detention Center in November 2014 and March 2015, District Attorney Ashley Welch announced last week.
Jackson Sheriff’s Office cleaning up jail operations
When inmates of the Jackson County Detention Center committed suicide on Nov. 21, 2014, and March 13 of this year, the same two male jailers were on duty both days. One of those jailers has taken a voluntary demotion.
