Inmate Objects To Crowded Jail Man Who Slept On Cell Floor Claims Civil Rights Violated

An inmate who had to sleep on the floor at the Kootenai County Jail wants more than $700 for each day he spent behind bars.

Richard J. Updegraff, 38, says the jail was so crowded he was forced to sleep on his cell floor near a toilet.

The Careywood, Idaho, man claims such treatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is a violation of his civil rights, according to a petition he filed in court last week.

Jail officials disagree.

Although quarters are tight, they say the conditions are sanitary.

“We are taking every measure we can to make them as comfortable as possible,” said jail Lt. Geraldine Riggs. “I do not believe their rights are being violated.”

Updegraff was released Wednesday after spending 17 days behind bars on a drunken driving charge. He spent each of those days with another inmate in a cell designed for only one person.

“This condition is not only unsanitary but degrading,” he said. “You’re eating dinner on the floor next to a toilet.”

Updegraff said one night he was forced to sleep on the floor in a cell with a delirious man.

“He walks up to the toilet and never even hits the toilet,” Updegraff said Wednesday. “So now I’m up in a corner.”

Updegraff is the second inmate this week to protest the crowded conditions in court.

The first inmate, George Wicke, 21, of Spokane, asked a judge on Tuesday to release him from jail because he had to stay on the floor.

The claim was dismissed.

Updegraff is asking for $750 for each day he was “illegally confined.”

Riggs said it doesn’t surprise her to see such requests. Crowding at the jail regularly forces officials to keep two inmates in a cell designed to hold only one. The jail is certified to hold 123 inmates. However, Riggs said the jail recently has averaged 155 to 160 inmates a day.

One day last month the jail reached a record population of 177, and Riggs said she expects to see as many as 200 inmates in the jail some day this winter.

On Wednesday, about 14 inmates were without bunks.

When there aren’t enough bunks, inmates are given mattresses to put on the floor, Riggs said. The inmates are instructed where to place their bedding so it isn’t near a toilet.

Riggs said inmates also are given cleaning supplies every day to keep the floor sanitary.

Last year, the jail lost its accreditation from the Idaho Sheriff’s Association because of crowding, although the jail received high marks in all other categories.

Riggs said relief is on the horizon.

Jail officials expect construction on a new 120-bed minimum-security facility to begin within the year.

, DataTimes