The D.C. Auditor released a report on Thursday describing deteriorating, unsafe conditions inside the D.C. Jail, and calling for increased maintenance funding for the aging facility.
The D.C. Department Of Health has consistently “cited DOC for repeated and uncorrected violations of industry standards related to environmental conditions, including room temperatures, sanitary conditions, pests, broken fixtures, and inadequate lighting,” the report reads. The Office of the D.C. Auditor conducted several site visits and examined DOH reports on the facility to complete its audit, according to the report. DOH has also cited the DOC and private company Aramark, which provides the inmates’ food, “for repeated violations of District regulations related to public health and food service.”
Among some of the unsanitary and unsafe conditions highlighted in the report: inoperable plumbing fixtures, a leaking roof, peeling paint on metal desks, door frames, tables, and bed frames, water penetration through walls, and damaged shower stalls. Aramark also reportedly failed to keep food contact surfaces clean, held food at improper temperatures, and “failed to control pests in the culinary area.”
For those following the conditions at the jail over the year, the results of this audit aren’t surprising. Back in 2015, another report by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee and Covington & Burling found that conditions in the jail were so bad, many “cannot realistically be fixed” in the current building. The jail is well known to have moldy walls and a vermin infestation. In the summer, temperatures are known to spike to sweltering conditions inside inmates’ cells; in 2016, a 70-year-old inmate died in the jail amid a heat wave, though the D.C. Department of Corrections held that his death was unrelated to the heat.
According to the D.C. Auditor, the jail has not received adequate funding from the mayor or the D.C. Council for at least the last four years. The Department of Corrections has sought an average of $12.5 million per year from the city government, but has been allocated an average of $3.1 million annually over that time. “The Mayor and Council should provide a capital budget for DOC that considers the risk of failure to address health and safety hazards identified by the DOH including the risk to the safety of inmates and staff and the risk of additional litigation,” the report reads.
The D.C. Jail has an average daily population of 1,346 people, all men.
The auditor report makes several recommendations, including increasing city funding to make jail repairs and moving forward with the construction of a new jail. “The persistence and seriousness of facility citations clearly point to the need for a new jail,” the report reads. “While there has been talk of a new jail, no real planning is in evidence and it is likely that a new facility will not be built for many years. It seems likely that the jail will serve as the principal incarceration facility in the District for years to come.”
While there’s broad agreement over the need for a new jail, key questions like its location and funding remain unanswered. Kevin Donahue, the deputy mayor for public safety and justice, told the auditor’s office that a new facility is a long way off in the future. The earliest construction could begin is 2025, and it would likely take another four to five years to finish building the structure.
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, head of the committee on judiciary and public safety, released a statement on the report Friday morning. “This report confirms much of what we already know—D.C. desperately needs a new facility, and the challenges of the current one are many,” the report reads. Allen’s committee will have an oversight hearing with DOC Friday afternoon and the councilmember says he plans to ask about the conditions of the jail.
Natalie Delgadillo