Anderson stays in Gastonia during trial

While his first-degree murder trial is taking place in Gastonia, Jerry Anderson is being housed in the Gaston County Jail.

Rather than transport Anderson back and forth each day for court between the Caldwell County Detention Center and the Gaston County Courthouse, Sheriff's Office officials here worked out an agreement for Anderson to be housed at the jail in Gastonia, which is next door to the courthouse where his trial is taking place.

Caldwell Detention Center Capt. Chris Brackett said it makes more sense from a fiscal standpoint to house Anderson in Gastonia.

“Knowing this was a high-profile case, the fact that there was a change of venue and with gas prices so high, it wasn't logistically prudent to keep him here and transport him back and forth,” Brackett explained. “Looking at the whole picture, it was cheaper for the county for him to be housed there.”

Brackett said Caldwell Sheriff Alan Jones worked out an agreement with Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger to house Anderson in Gastonia not long after the change of venue motion was granted back in January.

Anderson stayed in the Caldwell County Detention Center until May 12 when he was transported to Gaston County, two days before jury selection began for his trial. Brackett said Anderson stayed here until then so he could have easier access to his attorneys as well as reducing the time he would be housed in Gaston County.

Caldwell County will pay Gaston $40 per day to house Anderson in its jail. He is in his 13th day there, meaning the county has spent $520. If the trial lasts four to six weeks beyond jury selection as the judge and attorneys think it might, the cost the county would pay to have Anderson housed close to the Gaston courthouse would exceed $2,000.

But Brackett said paying that fee would ensure that Anderson makes his court appearances on time each day and reduces the risk of traffic problems on U.S. 321, mechanical problems with transport vehicles as well as cutting down on the gas used to get him to and from Gastonia. With gas prices at more than $3 a gallon, savings on travel alone will be huge, especially for a round trip of roughly 120 miles each day the trial lasts.

Plus, a detention transport officer working past 5 p.m. each day when court ends would have to be paid overtime.

“Anytime you transport an inmate there is that inherent danger of something going wrong,” Brackett said. “There could be a mechanical breakdown or traffic problem that could cause a time issue. Plus, gas is so high right now. You have to take all that into consideration.”

Caldwell County gets money back each day because it houses inmates from other counties on a regular basis. Brackett said the detention center houses inmates from Alexander and Yadkin counties now as well as inmates from the Department of Correction and federal inmates.

The county gets $40 a day for DOC and other jail inmates housed here and $45 for federal inmates.

“As detention administrators, you try to take care of each other,” Brackett said. “Sometimes we can do a one for one. A jail may house an inmate for us, and we may house one for them in return, so it's not always a monetary exchange. We try to coordinate with each other. It's a pretty common practice.”

The capacity of the Caldwell Detention Center is 185 for its general population, and there currently are 192 inmates there. Of those, 42 are federal inmates.

Brackett said hallway cells away from the general population cells are utilized to house work detail inmates and trustees (kitchen and laundry).

“This jail was figured with a slight overage, so we have the capability to house up to 200, but we like to keep it as close to 185 as we can,” he said.

During the month of April, Caldwell County received $75,000 in revenue for housing federal, DOC and county inmates from other facilities.

Printer Friendly Version

E-mail this story to friend