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Sheriff’s office cites 991‑inmate population and seeks lobby security as staff discuss electronic home‑arrest pilot
Summary
Major Loveland Stanley told commissioners the jail had 991 inmates that morning and proposed contracting Allied Universal for two armed lobby guards because of staffing vacancies; Major Henson described a planned electronic house‑arrest pilot (100–200 monitors) and said monitoring could cost about $12/day versus $93–$110/day to house an inmate.
Major Loveland Stanley of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office briefed the board on July 6 about staffing pressures at the Law Enforcement Detention Center and a proposed contract with Allied Universal Security Services to provide two armed security guards for the lobby.
Stanley said the county is experiencing both rising average daily population and a high vacancy rate among detention officers, leaving civilian lobby staff without expected floor support. “This would be a one‑year contract with a renewal for both the second and third year,” Stanley said, and he asked the board to consider the contract to protect civilian staff while detention officers work the dorms and floors.
Stanley reported an inmate population of 991 that morning and warned the county was approaching full capacity. Commissioners asked about funding; Stanley said the cost would come from the sheriff’s contractual services line item that holds contingency for such needs, not from an unbudgeted contingency appropriation.
Separately, Major Henson described planning for an electronic house‑arrest (EHA) monitoring pilot that would require judicial criteria before enrollment. He said staff initially planned to pilot with 100–200 monitors and that vendors being considered include Tar Heel. Henson framed the pilot as a possible rapid method to reduce the in‑custody population if the judiciary adopts appropriate eligibility criteria: "When we looked...we found about 180 in the facility currently" (low‑severity, nonviolent cases identified as potential candidates), and he estimated, on the basis of other counties’ experience, the county could “possibly” cut the population in half within six months to a year if the program scales and the judiciary agrees.
Henson also compared per‑day costs, saying typical incarceration without medical needs runs between $93 and $110 per day while contracted electronic monitoring had been quoted in discussion at about $12 per day. Commissioners raised concerns about absconding and oversight; Henson acknowledged that monitored individuals can abscond but said monitoring and judicial controls would be part of program design.
What happens next: The Allied security contract was presented for consideration on the upcoming July 9 regular agenda and staff will return follow‑up data on inmate composition (pretrial vs. sentenced backlog) and monitoring pilot logistics if commissioners request it. The board voted on July 6 to go into closed session under North Carolina General Statute §143‑318.11(a)(6) and adjourned to that session.
