Autauga Commission meeting gets heated over Black Mold issue

BY SARAH STEPHENS

ELMORE AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER

Tuesday night, Autauga County Sheriff Mark Harrell and his attorney Tray Richardson addressed the Commission members, regarding their concerns with black mold and other forms of mold in the Autauga Metro Jail.

Sheriff Harrell evacuated all prisoners from the facility on June 6. They have been placed in other facilities within the state. His reasoning, he said, is ongoing concerns with moisture and mold within many areas of the jail, and other potential health hazards to inmates, deputies, jailers and staff.

According to his attorney Tray Richardson, he sent a letter to County Attorney Kyle Shirley on June 5, notifying the Commission the sheriff was going to begin the process of evacuating the county jail. He claims he also notified Shirley’s partner about the evacuation plans on June 4 in person.

This is disputed by the Commission, in a statement about Tuesday’s meeting which can be found below at the end of this article.  The Commission does not agree and feels Harrell was too hasty in his decision to evacuate.

Sheriff Harrell spoke to the Commission Tuesday asking for approval for five issues directly related to the evacuation of the jail. All five had a motion made by Larry Stoudemire to be up for discussion, but no other commissioners seconded the motion. Therefore, all five issues died for lack of a second, and did not move to discussion.

Harrell told the EAN his concern and reasons for evacuating the jail are simple. “We have inmates in the jail that are innocent until proven guilty. They cannot leave. I have employees that are in and out of the jail all day. I could not in good conscience keep waiting and put anyone in danger.”

The five requests by Sheriff Harrell which were not discussed by the Commission are:

To approve the opening of a purchase order for all costs associated with the closing of Autauga Metro Jail. This would include the set up of a processing center at the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office, including electricity, phone lines, cameras, internet service and supplies.

To approve all fees to be paid associated with the representation by Tray Richardson Attorney at Law for representation of Sheriff Mark Harrell and the Autauga County Sheriff’s Office employees.

Approve a 2-step raise for every sheriff’s office employee including all corrections deputies, all sheriff’s deputies and all staff of the sheriff’s office for compensation for working in a hazardous area of Autauga County Metro Jail and Autauga County Courthouse.

Approve signing of all Memorandums of Understanding with all sheriff’s offices for the compensation of housing Autauga County Sheriff’s Office jail inmates, medical and feeding.

And finally, approve an increase in gas and vehicle maintenance budget items for the transport of inmates to and from jail facilities throughout the state for housing, court and bond procedures.

Prior to the sheriff’s request to the Commission, his attorney was given time to address the members.

Richardson said that concerns with the jail, including the mold, the lack of a working fire alarm system, water leaks and a faulty control room are not new issues. Prior to the jail being evacuated, a state fire marshal had serious concerns about the conditions of the jail and placed the building on fire watch. This means the building has to constantly be walked and monitored for a possible fire.

Richardson said it is not the wish of the sheriff to enter into litigation with the Commission, but rather improve communication and honesty.

Richardson said that the first indication that black mold was present in the jail came in early April when ServePro inspected the facility. “They said they could not do the work, because black mold was present,” Richardson said. “The Sheriff spoke to County Administrator Scott Kramer and asked to be put on the agenda.”

When that was not successful, Sheriff Harrell said he contacted his attorney. “It was out of frustration,” Richardson told commissioners. He continued that despite repeated attempts to open a line of communication with Commissioners, he was getting nowhere.

Harrell said he also asked the Commission to have an emergency executive session to talk about the jail issues, and health hazards therein. Both of those were denied.

Richardson told Commissioners that problems with the fire alarm system date back to at least 2016, and as of today it is not working properly. He said this is in direct violation of Alabama Code 11-14-13.  In general, it reads the jail must be properly ventilated so as to secure the health of those confined therein.

A Plus Cleaning and Restoration of Childersburg was contacted to conduct a tour of the jail to check for dangerous issues. The technician shared with Harrell and Warden Larry Nixon he felt the mold found in the jail included black mold, which is dangerous.

Richardson said he feels it is a shame that due to lack of communication from the Commission, County Administrator Scott Kramer and County Attorney Kyle Shirley, the situation has devolved “into what it is. We have got to get everybody together and row the boat in the right direction here.”

Commissioners asked no questions of Richardson at the end of his presentation, and he sat back down.

Richardson, Harrell, and many members of the packed room were visibly angry, some making audible comments. Sheriff Harrell walked out of the room, but his attorney remained.

Commissioner Stoudemire addressed the crowd, offering an apology.

“I want to say I am sorry to all of the citizens of Autauga County. I am personally so sorry. This should not have happened. All of this should have been fixed.”

Stoudemire said he feels County Administrator Scott Kramer failed in communicating what was happening in the jail with the Commissioners. “He never came back and updated us. The communication was very selective with just a few people and this is what happens.”

Stoudemire said he had questioned many times the status of the jail and was repeatedly told that it was being handled. “Kramer failed to do his job and report to us,” which drew a round of applause from many in the audience. Many present were Autauga County deputies, jail staff and their families. He later said, “I think the County Administrator and County Attorney should take some of the blame off of us (commissioners.) I have no answer because there has been no communication.”

Commission Chairman Jay Thompson said that the county is working on several projects with the jail over the past year, including a new roof which has been completed, HVAC work, repairs to the control room and renovations to the jail. They have awarded a contract to PH&J Architects for the remaining work. Patrick Addison was at the meeting, representing PH&J. He said that work is being planned and will be funded with American Rescue Plan funds.

Stoudemire asked Addison if PH&J could fix a mold problem, to which Addison answered, “No.”

According to Warden Larry Nixon, all of the AC units were replaced two years ago, and the mold should have been discovered at that time.

Stoudemire said that too often the Commission has “back-room meetings,” and he is not invited or included.

“I am just hoping we can get this solved quickly. This is an embarrassment to the entire county. We’re supposed to be the top county, but now we are at the bottom. It’s embarrassing.”

No other Commissioners or staff spoke on the record right after the meeting. However, they have since issued a statement which reads,

“Statement from the Autauga County Commission

PRATTVILLE, Ala. – The Autauga County Commission released the following statement after the Commission’s June 18, 2024, regular meeting.

As the entire County Commission showed tonight, we are committed to addressing important issues related to the Autauga Metro Jail, just as we have been for the past several months. Tonight’s meeting made clear that the Commission has a plan to address these issues and that we have already been doing so with the Sheriff and Jail Warden aware of the plan while being actively involved in the process.

During the latter part of 2022, the Commission hired PH&J Architects to evaluate the various areas of the jail that needed updates. They also evaluated the courthouse during this same time for HVAC/ventilation upgrades, as well as cardlock system upgrades. The Sheriff and Jail Warden were involved in prioritizing the timeline of the jail projects which included replacing the jail roof, replacing jail controls, jail cameras, HVAC/ventilation upgrades, fire alarm system updates and other minor renovations. The roof has already been replaced, and the Commission awarded the bid for the new controls, cameras, and cardlock system at tonight’s meeting. The planning of these projects is no small task and has been a lengthy undertaking which the Sheriff and Jail Warden have actively and continually been involved in and made aware of.

The Commission was recently made aware of some concerns that mold might be present in the jail and our staff took immediate action to determine if mold was present and, if so, to what extent. We arranged for several experts in mold remediation to remove any areas of concern but for some reason unknown to the County Commission, the Sheriff’s Office did not allow these professionals to complete the job. Therefore, the Commission consulted once again with PH&J Architects, and they recommended the sight be tested by Environmental-Materials Consultants, Inc. (EMC). In response to this recommendation the Commission immediately scheduled EMC to conduct testing on June 5th, but they were not permitted in the jail on this day, as the stated reason was staffing issues. They were then scheduled by the Commission for June 6, 2024, the same day the Sheriff announced publicly that he would be evacuating the jail. And to be clear, the Commission learned of the evacuation at the same time as the general public and was given no advanced notice even though, we have learned, notice and advanced planning was extended to other individuals and entities.

EMC conducted their testing and their samples revealed there is no significant danger of harm due to the environmental conditions of the facility. EMC summarized their findings as follows:

“Mold is present in most environments around the world. There are thousands of types of mold with many types of subspecies. Everyone is exposed to mold spores in office buildings, stores, restaurants in their homes and every day in the natural environment. The types of mold identified at the time of this assessment are very typical and extremely common for most indoor air environments, especially in Alabama. Most individuals with healthy immune systems do not exhibit health concerns or reactions under certain conditions and where spore counts stay within a normal or average range. However, cleaning processes should be in place to address various services if mold is suspect to be present or is clearly visible.”

EMC’s testing revealed high concentrations of Cladosporium (everyday mold) throughout the jail that need to be remediated. The Sheriff also personally enlisted an expert, A Plus Cleaning and Restoration, which also identified similar trends. There was one area in both expert’s reports which identified a rare concentration of black mold (stachybotrys) but it was located in an isolated area which is in the upper level of the jail that has never been completed or occupied by inmates or staff and the mold was not growing or spreading.

In response to the professional evaluations we obtained, the County Commission has requested C. W. Smith, a licensed and bonded general contractor with over 30 years of experience, to include mold remediation, to provide a quote and begin the remediation process and cleaning processes detailed out by experts, beginning as soon as possible, hopefully as quickly as this coming week.

Based on the reports of the experts, the decision made by the Sheriff to evacuate the inmates, without informing even one Commissioner or the County Administrator, so there could be a discussion or even assistance in planning, has now been determined to have been unnecessary. Unfortunately, this decision has in turn caused an undue financial burden on the taxpayers of Autauga County. Anytime a decision is made to move inmates from one facility to another, the inmate and the law enforcement officer conducting the transport are put at a higher risk of harm. Although we are disheartened by these events, we will continue to make sure that all projects move forward as planned to ensure the health and safety of all citizens and staff.”

We will have a follow-up article to this covering the findings from both Environmental Materials Consulting, Inc (EMC) and a separate report from A Plus Cleaning and Restoration Testing and Inspection Services Inc. That article will also include recommendations for moving forward from both companies, and how the mold should be addressed.