Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-02-05
ENicott City Jail Called Worst
In State in Inspectors Report
Branded as 'Epitome Of All Prison
Should Not Be-; 4 Other institutions Hit
By the Associated Press.

S'S0'o wv ~
BY the Associated Press.
BALTIMORE, Feb. ga declara-
ton that the Howard County jail
at Ellicott City is the worst in the
State and 1.-The epitome of all that a
Jail should not be" was included to-
day in report to State authorities
covering county prisons.
The section of the report compiled
by a present and a former Federal
prison inspector included a resurAe
Of conditions in Calvert, Charles
and st. Marys Counties. as well as
Howard
At Calvert County Jail at Prince
Frederick it was reported widow
who kept a boarding house ran the
institution, depending on her colored
handyman to do the work
An inspector said he found the
Charles County Jail at La Plata in
charge of 77-year-old Negro, re-
tired courthouse janitor.
He said the 156-year-old St.
Marys County Jail at Leonardtown
was directed by a one-time farmer
who wasn't sure he approved of a
new $4,000 Jail under construction
with Federal funds because there
are too many steps and too many
doors"
Trusty Assaulted Girl.
OF the States Jail in Howard
County, the inspector said
From the point of view of admin
istration, common decency. santa
ton, public neglect, opportunity for
immortality, and all in all, the pro-
viding of degrading experience for
those incarcerated therein, this Jail
Is about as bad as one could imagine,
While it is true the building is in
adequate and should be replaced,
this is no excuse for the practices
which exist"
This is the jail, the inspector said,
where "trusty" who had the run
of the Jail and the warden's resi-
dence attempted criminal assault
on a 14-year-old girl, held for a
marriage license application inquiry.
Because of her youth the girl had
been held in the warden's part of
the building, the inspector said.
He added the trusty was convicted
| of the crime, which occurred while
the warden was absent from the Jail.
Jail Used as Alhshouse.
THE facilities here for women
are about as poor as could be mag
ined e they occupy a second
floor, four-cell unit, together with a
90-year-old man. who is permitted
to live in the jail at the request of
the county commissioners and who
comes and goes as he pleases. . =
1T seems to be the practice in
this county to use the Jail as an
almshouse"-a condition reported Of
several county jails.
There are no separate facilities
for juveniles and the warden admits
that on occasion he has had boys as
young as Is in the Jail.
The report said the inspector
found l0-year-old girl who had
been allowed to stay in the Jail over
night with her father.
THE records are most Inadequate.
being maintained primarily to justify
the food accounts. There is no data
with respect to age, sex or type of
release" $
Discipline was conspicuous by its
absence" 50
Ieonardfown Io;I r,u.a NS...L
The report said that the ancient
jail at Leonardtown had been or
dered closed by former Insurance
Commissioner John B. Centrum in
February. 1943, but the institution
was still in operation late last fall.
1T is undoubtedly one of the
poorest managed and worst firetraps
in the State of Maryland. -.
In the miserably equipped rooms
on the second floor of the jail there
have been housed at one time as
many as 20 men in one room. On
the day of the visit there were six
colored men in a room with only
two double beds"
I'm one of the rooms there was
large ring in the floor with a chain
attached. Approximately a year ago
a prisoner was handcuffed to the
chain
What equipment there is is on
its last legs the bedding is
unSpeakably dirty - ="
The daily menu was described as
Two monotonous meals and the in
spector noted that "only white men
are given coffee for breakfast.
Prince Frederick Jail Hit.
The report said that at Calvert
County's Jail at Prince Frederick
administration did not exist" and
that the sole function of the hotel
keeper or lunchroom operator named
as Jailer was ito provide meals and
make arrangements for occasional
! cleaning"
He said the jailer paid rs cents
a day for each prisoner and serves
two meals. 1T is reasonable to as
sumo that she uses the leavingS
from the meals at her boarding
house"
The prisoners are locked in the
jail and left to their own devices |.
There is a shower in large
room, but it is out of order : ~
La Plata Jail Casual"
The Charles County jail at La
Plata was reported operated on q
very casual basis. There is not
enough equipment to make much
mention of $50