A Superior Court judge put Yadkin County commissioners on notice last night that he will be sending them orders and subpoenas in coming weeks to compel them to explain why they haven't built a new jail.
Judge John O. Craig has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 8 in Yadkinville.
At the hearing, Craig will hear evidence and testimony "in order to determine if this board or any of its individual members should be held in contempt for failure to perform your duties in violation of your oaths of office to properly conduct the county's business and failure to uphold the constitution and laws of this state," he said.
Craig took the unusual step of addressing the board during a regularly-scheduled commissioners' meeting last night.
Despite the lengthy lawsuit, Craig noted that there is no court order or injunction preventing the county from breaking ground on a new jail, though the county does need to work out a water agreement with Yadkinville officials.
In December 2006, Craig ordered Yadkin County commissioners to build a new jail. It's almost three years later, and nothing has been built, even though land and financing are in place.
At the heart of the issue has been a contentious fight over the new jail's location, leading to a series of lawsuits and appeals over the proposed site on Hoots Road.
Opponents of the location are still fighting it, and the case is expected to go through the N.C. Court of Appeals.
Craig had especially harsh words last night as he laid out what the stalled jail project has cost Yadkin County taxpayers.
Craig ended his appearance by reminding the commissioners that he could fine, jail or remove them from office if he found them in contempt of his order.
"It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to threaten, or even consider the possibility of sanctions in this manner," Craig said. "No one likes to spend money on a jail project, even one that appears to be shovel ready, but it is an obligation that all counties must bear and it's been that way since the inception of the United States of America and the founding of the state of North Carolina."
Litigation costs alone in relation to the jail are almost $84,000, Craig said, pointing to figures he received from the county. County money and costs associated with the jail problem have totaled more than $1.7 million over the past three years, Craig said, "when a jail could have been built in that time."
"At this point, talk of alternative sites and alternative designs will be disfavored by me due to the sustained inaction by the board on the jail issue. Now I have tried to stay out of the board's way as they wrestled over locations and designs. But neither I nor this board can disregard the critical need for this county to have a new jail."
Yadkin County's jail remains closed while it undergoes extensive repairs, and the county is paying other counties between $45 and $62.50 a day per inmate to house them. Yesterday, the county had 43 inmates, Maj. Danny Widener of the Yadkin County Sheriff's Office said.
Widener said yesterday that he didn't know when the repairs would be complete. The jail has been closed since August, when state officials closed it because of plumbing problems and unsanitary conditions.
Craig said last night that if commissioners decided to build a modular jail -- one solution that commissioners have discussed -- they would only be able to do that if they worked on a permanent facility at the same time.
lgiovanelli@wsjournal.com
727-7302
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