Richland County ad hoc committee elects English chair; administrator reports staffing and renovation progress at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center

Council members of the Richland County Detention Center ad hoc committee elected Councilwoman English chair and received an update on staffing, mental-health screening and facility renovations at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center during their March 2025 meeting.

Administrator Brown told the committee the county is continuing active recruitment for detention staff, including digital billboards, print ads, radio and social media campaigns and sign-on or retention bonuses, and that the county has invested in equipment intended to improve security at the facility.

The update also covered mental-health screening and infrastructure work. Brown said the county contracts with a third-party provider for medical and mental-health services and that the facility remains structurally a detention center, not a mental-health hospital. She reported renovation progress across multiple housing units and said work on locks was roughly 90% complete.

The committee opened with nominations for chair. Councilwoman Little nominated Councilwoman English; Councilman Weaver nominated Councilman Pugh. After a vote recorded by the clerk, the committee voted unanimously to elect English as chair. The committee then approved minutes and adopted the agenda by unanimous votes.

Administrator Brown described recruitment and retention measures and where those messages appear. "If you've been in the Columbia Place Mall ... you will see the Richland County display there," she said, adding the county also uses radio and social media. Brown acknowledged a resident's comment about how pay was shown online and discussed HR guidance: "there is a reason why you list the lowest denomination of what a person earns" to avoid creating a contractual obligation, she said, and added staff would review whether the county system can show both hourly and annual pay ranges.

Councilman Lieber raised the recruitment messaging after a constituent showed him a screenshot. "It says $20 an hour, I believe," he said, noting Lexington County's listing showing an annual range and asking whether Richland County should show equivalent annual figures to improve recruitment.

On mental-health services, Councilman Weaver asked whether the county had implemented a DOJ recommendation to add mental-health screening or staff. "Have we done anything about that? Have we hired anyone for that?" he asked. Brown said the county contracts with a third-party medical and mental-health provider and that screening and classification processes have been addressed, while stressing the facility is not structurally built to be a mental-health facility.

Brown gave detailed infrastructure progress: lock work is about 90% complete; the housing unit listed as "Hotel" moved from 60% to about 96% complete; Housing Unit Juliet moved from roughly 1% to about 40% complete; Housing Unit Lima moved from 1% to 43% complete. She reported other units showing substantial progress as well and said the county has 18 housing units that require renovation. The county is replacing old plumbing and water-management systems as part of full-unit reconstructions, and an attorney-client visitation facility listed at about 70% complete in prior materials is expected to be finished in May.

Brown also described Phase 1 of the facility as having open-bay dorms where movement is high and direct supervision is more difficult, and said the county is evaluating how best to address that configuration.

Councilwoman Bair requested the committee go into executive session to ask personnel-specific questions. "I would like to recommend that the committee does go in executive session, so that I can get my questions answered," she said. Councilman Weaver moved to enter executive session under South Carolina law; the committee voted unanimously to approve. The committee later voted to leave executive session; Administrator Brown reported: "We went into executive session to discuss South Carolina code laws section 30-4-78 1. No decisions were made."

Brown closed by reminding members the county will send a formal request under jail standards allowing council members to tour the facility in small groups and encouraged members to view the renovations firsthand.

The committee adjourned after routine closing votes.