Sheriff working on Dartmouth jail upgrades to make way for Ash Street inmates

One hundred inmates from the Ash Street Jail and Regional Lock-Up in New Bedford may be moved to the Bristol County House of Correction and Jail in Dartmouth if Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux receives a grant or state funding of $10 million that would make closing the Ash Street jail possible. 

The Dartmouth jail is currently operating at 50% capacity and wouldn’t be able to hold the inmates from Ash Street until cells comply with legal requirements for higher security inmates. Currently 11 of 22 housing units are not up to code as the cells in these units don’t have toilets or locks on their doors.

According to Heroux, it is against the eighth amendment to have prisoners behind locked doors without a toilet in the cell. At the Dartmouth jail, one of the reasons why there are not currently locks on all the doors is due to the communal bathrooms.

Heroux said there have been ongoing requests for funds to add locks on all the doors after the prisoner uprising in 2023. This would make the jail safer for both the inmates and officers, according to Heroux.

“I’m not asking for something that other jails don’t have, I’m asking for what all the other jails have,” he said. 

The initial $10 million would be used to update the GB housing unit — where the 2023 uprising occurred — and two wings in the Women’s Center, which would be enough to house the 100 Ash Street inmates.

An additional $10 million would be needed to repair another three housing units in the Women’s Center. There is no cost estimate to add locks or toilets to five remaining housing units. 

If all of the cells are fitted with toilets and locks, the Dartmouth jail could expand to hold inmates serving up to five-year sentences. Currently the jail houses inmates up to two and a half years, including for drug related crimes or being held before their hearing. 

The Ash Street jail inmates are mostly awaiting trial for a variety of crimes from petty to serious. 

“The people who are at Ash Street need to be behind a door with a lock on it,” said Heroux, “They could be victimized by someone else, or they are a real serious person who might victimize someone else.”

Heroux is applying for a grant through the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance that would cover the costs, and is due in January. 

If the grant is not awarded, it would take longer to close the Ash Street jail, and the repairs and closure costs will be considered as a part of the state operating budget, capital budget or supplemental budget. 

“I would really encourage the legislature just to do a one-time appropriation in an operating budget and just make it happen,” said Heroux, “Rather than playing this waiting game that may or may not materialize through the [Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance] grant program, because then we’re just wasting time.”

While he didn’t campaign on closing the jail when he ran for sheriff in 2022,  Heroux has since decided it is the most cost effective measure, describing the Ash Street jail as a “money pit.”

“We’re wasting more money on maintaining a building that should be closed,” he said, noting that the cost could continue to rise from three to five percentage points each year.

He stated closing the Ash Street jail would save taxpayers almost $5 million a year and pay for itself in under three years. The cost savings would come from saving $800,00 a year on utilities and maintenance and $4 million on forced overtime for correctional officers. The Ash Street jail would require $11 million in repairs. 

Issues with the Ash Street jail include the fact that it doesn’t offer as many programs and is not conducive to modern corrections compared to the Dartmouth jail.

Closing the Ash Street jail has been discussed for many years, dating as far back as the 1980s. Social reform non-profits such as Bristol County for Correctional Justice and the Coalition for Social Justice have also been advocating for the jail’s closure.