After deaths, violence and turmoil, Richland County jail gets a permanent director
Almost a year after Richland County fired its last jail director, the administration has found a permanent replacement for the detention center’s top job.
Crayman Harvey, who has served as interim director for the past eleven months, has been promoted to agency director overseeing the troubled Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. The county announced Harvey’s new role on its Facebook page Tuesday.
It is the county’s second attempt to find a permanent replacement for Ronaldo Myers, the longtime director who retired following a riot in 2021 after running the jail for 39 years. Harvey’s predecessor served in the role for a little over month before being fired when it emerged he had been terminated from his previous post at the Kershaw County detention center.
In council meetings, Harvey has repeatedly pledged to create a “culture change” inside of the jail. He has pushed for higher starting salaries for detention center officers, led facility-wide renovation projects and overseen the first graduation for inmates who earned their GED while incarcerated.
But he inherits a jail that remains beset by problems. In 2023 three inmates have died, including two in violent attacks inside the facility, which remains plagued by stabbings and other violence. In July, the state Department of Corrections sent experts to inspect the jail, which they say was prompted by “ongoing issues.” The Richland County administration has disputed this characterization, saying the “offer for technical assistance” was not prompted by recent events.
Harvey joined the staff of the jail as an assistant director in August 2022 after a 16-year career in law enforcement. He had previously worked at the Kershaw County Detention Center, Camden Police Department and most recently as an associate deputy director of security and operations at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
After joining the staff of the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, Harvey was quickly thrust into the role of interim director after the troubled detention center’s newly hired director, Tyrell Cato, was fired in early September, 2022.
Following reports in The State and other publications, it was revealed that Cato had been terminated from his previous job in Kershaw County following allegations of sexual harassment.
A document initially filed with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy, which maintains personnel records for law enforcement in South Carolina, incorrectly indicated that he had left voluntarily. Kershaw County officials at the time blamed this on a “clerical error,” and Richland County never confirmed the nature of Cato’s departure with his previous employers.
As director, Harvey will have to continue addressing many of the issues that have plagued Richland County’s detention center, which houses suspects awaiting trial in federal courts and around the Midlands. Among the issues are much needed facility repairs and chronic understaffing. In a report to the Richland County Council in March, Harvey said that roughly half of the staffing positions in the jail were vacant.
After the jail failed to meet more than a dozen minimum standards in an October inspection, the South Carolina Department of Corrections issued an ultimatum to Richland County. The county administration was required to submit a remediation plan for the jail.
Since then, the county has pledged $23 million for a facility-wide overhaul. As interim director, Harvey shuttered the controversial solitary housing units and oversaw a major renovation of the kitchen, which previously received a “C” health rating from state Department of Health and Environmental Control, as well as the ongoing $2 million retrofit of the facility’s locks.
Harvey’s promotion comes after a nearly year-long search that appeared active even through the end of July. At a press conference at the end of the month, county Administrator Leonardo Brown said that Richland County was still actively looking for jail director candidates.
The county has previously declined to say how many candidates had applied for the role, saying that it was a personnel matter.
Harvey holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Leo University and a Masters in Criminal Justice from the University of Phoenix. While Richland County has not disclosed his salary, a job posting for the position included a salary range of $90,363.44 to $162,654.20.
