Grand Jury Suggests Changes for Tulare Co. Jail

By: Ashley Ritchie

The 2010 Tulare County Grand Jury report is pointing fingers at the Tulare County Jail.

"We're not perfect in any way. We do make mistakes. So if they find issues and we can correct them, we will correct them," Lieutenant Wayne White, Tulare County Sheriff's Department, said.

And that's exactly what White says the jail intends to do after the Grand Jury found three areas that need improvement including privacy for por per inmates, or inmates who represent themselves legally, adequate access to healthcare and allowing inmates to share jackets and possibly infect one another.

"We did not have an infestation of disease. But there were some health concerns that if there was lice or something a disease could be spread," White said.

The report claims sick inmates aren't treated soon enough and medications aren't monitored properly.

"We have addressed that and only a supervising sergeant can go into a medical room and release the meds," White said.

"It's really going to depend on health and human services agency and what type of doctors they may be able to have available to these inmates," Sergeant Chris Douglass, Tulare County Sheriff's Department, said.

Another complaint the jury made is inmates don't have enough privacy in the law library.

"Right now the issue is while they're on the telephone; if they speak too loudly people might be able to hear," Douglass said.

Jail officials say they're working to reconstruct the room and make it more private.

But it is tough to keep up with all the rights inmates have.

"It's a compliance issue for us, things that we have to provide and it's a variety of different things that range from phone calls and yard time and food and clothing and temperatures of foods and things of that nature," Douglass said.

And they say the criticism is constructive.

"It's actually a good way of checks and balances. If we are out of compliance we need to know about it," Douglass said.

Jail officials say one thing they're looking at is reaching out to the public to find specialized doctors so inmates can have better health care.

But county supervisors say it's not because they haven't tried, but because it's hard to find doctors willing to work with the inmate population.

Jail officials say there is an "inmate welfare fund" they use to pay for anything that benefits inmates.

But they did not use that money to pay for new sweatshirts.

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