Jails; Sheriffs; Supervision of Local Confinement Facilities

Subject:

Jails; Sheriffs; Supervision of Local Confinement Facilities

Requested By:

The Honorable Frank W. Snepp, Jr. Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Mecklenburg County

Question:

Must the County Manager place a Criminal Intake Center [a facility for the reception of persons charged with crime] under the care and custody of the Sheriff?

Conclusion:

Yes.

The Criminal Intake Center, as described in your letter, is designed to include detention cells for at least 48 persons. These detention cells will be used to detain certain prisoners overnight and to house disruptive persons, drunks, etc. Such confinement activities most assuredly bring the facility within the scope and definition of a jail.

N.C.G.S.

§ 162-22 makes it clear that the Sheriff "shall have the care and custody of the jail in his county; and shall be, or appoint, the keeper thereof." Although the Sheriff appoints the Jailer,

N.C.G.S.

§ 162-24 provides that "The sheriff may not delegate to another person the final responsibility for discharging his official duties . . . ." Therefore, it follows that if the Sheriff cannot delegate to another his duties to supervise the care and custody of the jail, then certainly the County Manager is not empowered to do so. Additionally, our research reveals no authority for a County Manager to transfer the care and custody of a jail facility from the Sheriff to another county agency.

Properly maintaining the care and custody of a jail involves more than merely opening and closing cell doors. The Jailer’s duties include the safekeeping of prisoners in his care. Dunn v. Swanson, 217 N.C. 279, 7 S.E.2d 563 (1940). The Jailer’s duties also include receiving, incarcerating and retaining persons who are brought to the jail by a law enforcement officer.

N.C.G.S. § 162-41, and discussed in Foust v. Hughes, 21 N.C. App. 268, 204 S.E.2d 230 (1974), cert. denied, 285 N.C. 589, 205 S.E.2d 722 (1974). In order to properly maintain the care and custody of the jail, the Sheriff must implement reasonable measures to positively identify prisoners (to include, in appropriate cases, fingerprinting and photographs), to search arrestees for weapons and contraband, and to provide for the security of the personal effects of persons being confined. All of these functions are incidental to the normal operation of a jail and are necessary to properly maintain the care and custody of the jail. Therefore, such functions must remain under the supervision and control of the Sheriff.

Furthermore, the law requires persons committed to the custody of the Sheriff to be confined in the county jail, or in facilities approved by the N.C. Department of Human Resources. N.C.G.S. § 162-56. Therefore, confinement of prisoners is connected to the Sheriff’s custody, and any other confinement would be unauthorized.

You also indicate that the Criminal Intake Center will include a "centralized depository for criminal process." N.C.G.S. § 162-14 provides that the "sheriff, by himself or his lawful deputies, shall execute and make due return of all writs and other process to him legally issued and directed . . . ." N.C.G.S. § 162-50 provides a penalty if a Sheriff willfully fails or neglects to perform any duty imposed upon him by Chapter 162, including the duty to execute process. As stated above, the Sheriff is prohibited by N.C.G.S. § 162-24 from delegating the final responsibility for discharging his official duties. Therefore, any depository for criminal process which has been legally issued and directed to the Sheriff must remain within the control and supervision of the Sheriff because it is the Sheriff who is responsible, by law, for its proper and timely service. There is no requirement that the Sheriff control and supervise any depository for criminal process when the process is legally directed to an agency other than the Sheriff.

You further indicate that the Criminal Intake Center will house space for magistrates, the Mecklenburg County Pretrial Release Program, attorneys, the District Attorney and facilities for the administration of breathalyzer tests. In that these functions are not within the purview of the office of the Sheriff, the assignment and use of office space for these functions is governed by

N.C.G.S. § 153A-169 which places this authority in the County Board of Commissioners who may wish to consult with the County Manager as they deem appropriate.

LACY H. THORNBURG Attorney General

William W. Melvin Senior Deputy Attorney General