AVERY COUNTY, N.C. — The Avery County Detention Center is making big changes as staffing shortages continue. It’s now functioning as an intake only facility after transferring all its inmates to other counties.
What You Need To Know
- The Avery County Detention Center is operating as intake only
- All inmates have been transferred to other counties
- They are actively hiring detention officers so they can bring inmates back
Mike Henley became the Avery County sheriff on July 1.
“I just felt like I still wanted to serve and the opportunity was here, and I felt like I could put some positive change in affect here,” Henley said.
He came out of retirement to make these changes.
Henley retired from North Carolina Highway Patrol in 2017. Recently, he had to make a tough choice.
“I didn’t want folks to think this was something that we had done and it was due to lack of something we could affect. We kind of had no choice. It was laid in our lap when we came in,” Henley said.
The detention center was facing serious worker shortages.
Henley says they were already short workers when they learned five of their current employees had to go DOC Detention School immediately.
“Our detention facility was down seven or eight personnel, which for a facility this size is pretty big. We have like 23 detention officers, so they were running with bare bones as it pertains to staff,” Henley said.
They could no longer keep inmates inside the facility. They transferred all females to McDowell County and all males to Ashe County. Officials say the inmates will return to Avery County once the facilities are back open and properly staffed.
“If there’s a bright spot in this, we have been able to do maintenance that hasn’t been able to be done over the years, like painting and things like that, and utilize some of the employees we have been able to retain," he said.
Henley hopes to have the inmates transferred back by October.