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GREENSBORO — Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes plans to ask the Board of Commissioners next week for funding to add 28 additional detention officers to the Greensboro jail.

The request, which will be made at the Jan. 17 commissioners meeting, comes in light of recommendations made by a state jail inspector late last year to address overcrowding and safety issues at the facility, Barnes said.

Barnes said the inspector said the county had one of two options — either hire 28 new officers or install intercoms in cells to address both overcrowding and safety issues at the facility. Both would come at a cost to taxpayers of about $600,000.

"(To install intercoms) we would have to move 100 people off of each floor, but we don't have anywhere to send them," Barnes said. "It would have been a large security hassle."

Barnes said the hires were not part of a wish list by any means, noting that they are vital to keeping the jail open and functioning properly in the state's eyes.

"The inspectors keep seeing the overcrowding and the safety issues involved and are making these recommendations," Barnes said.

The jail has long been noted for overcrowding issues that includes prisoners being forced to sleep on the floor because of a lack of beds at the facility.

The sheriff had asked for and was denied funding to hire 100 additional detention officers over the last few years. He said the 28 new hires will be a small step toward reaching that goal

"If (the commissioners) decide not to do this — the jail inspector has said he has the authority and the power to shut the jail down. I hope that would not happen because that is an additional cost to the tax payer and we are required by law to provide a jail."

He estimates hiring and training the officers will take at least two months if the county can act quickly, noting it would normally take three.

The $600,000 estimate would cover costs of hiring, training and paying the new officers through the end of this fiscal year in June.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com