SHERIFF MASSEE TALKS RENOVATIONS, POSSIBLE EXPANSION
Seventeen years have passed since the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office left Linda Drive and moved into the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center on Old Monticello Road.
Despite this, many people around town still refer to it as “the new jail.” As it turns out, however, the new jail isn’t all that new anymore. Sheriff Bill Massee was frontand- center at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioner’s regular meeting, informing commissioners that the jail is facing overcrowding issues and several building-related issues.
After preparing more than four million meals since the facility first opened, Massee said that “there are plumbing issues and kitchen issues that we’re going to have to address.”
Massee added that he’s also concerned about the average daily inmate count, which was 273 in 2025. Earlier this week, it was 293. Massee said that many of the inmates are “non-bondable.” Currently, the jail has 53 inmates “who have been sentenced to prison that haven’t been picked up yet (by the Georgia Department of Corrections),” as well as 15 inmates previously deemed “incompetent to stand trial.” In turn, the BCSO has turned one of its jail pods into a mental health pod.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections’ most recent “Friday Report,” released on May 1, a total of 2,481 inmates currently “are awaiting pickup” and being housed in county jails. Massee added that over 1,000 people in Georgia “deemed incompetent to stand trial” currently are sitting in county jails.
If these trends continue, Massee said that a jail expansion may be necessary. The BCSO previously was under a federal consent order after being successfully sued in court for “overcrowding.” Those issues were at the old jail, and Massee said that he doesn’t want history to repeat itself.
“We don’t need to go through another overcrowding lawsuit. We can’t win it,” he said.
The county jail easily is the county government’s largest expense, with a budget of $5.2 million during the most recent fiscal year.