Apr 1, 2003 By Steve Ferris 2 min read

High numbers of inmates waiting to be sentenced and female inmates have driven the total population in the Fayette County Prison to near record levels, prison officials said Wednesday. Warden Larry Medlock told the prison board that the monthly average population for April was 247 – just one inmate shy of the previous high of 248 in November 2002.

He said the 247 count was about 21 percent higher than the monthly average population for April 2002, which was 205.

Wednesday morning’s population was 234, he said.

“This month, the female population skyrocketed,” Medlock said.

Five female inmates had to be transferred Tuesday to the Washington County Prison to bring the total female population down to the maximum of 24, he said, noting that several were brought in on bench warrants.

District Attorney Nancy Vernon said her office has been stepping up its action on bench warrants.

She also took note of a statistic in the warden’s monthly inmate report that said 61.3 percent of the population was waiting to be sentenced.

Vernon said she would like to work with the county court judges to fast track or streamline sentencing procedures.

She suggested that the time between arraignments and plea hearings could be shortened.

Judge John F. Wagner Jr. said more attorneys in the public defender’s office might be needed.

Vernon agreed, saying that adding at least one part-time assistant public defender might prevent so many cases from being stalled.

In an unrelated matter, Medlock asked the board to promote three corrections officers to lieutenants to address a shortage of supervisors working weekend shifts.

He pointed to information he collected from other county prisons in the state that shows other counties with the same or smaller number of inmates have two or three times more administrative staff than Fayette does.

Most problems occur on weekends when officers serve as shift supervisors, he said.

“We need to add some supervisors,” Medlock said. “It would help training. It would help supervision.”

Officers are paid lieutenants’ wages when they serve as shift supervisors, Medlock said.

Human resources consultant Dave Rodgers said the only cost increase to the county would occur when they work on weekdays, Medlock said.

Sheriff and board Chairman Gary Brownfield instructed Rodgers to gather the necessary information so the promotions can be presented to the salary board.