Ena Sellers

ROSE HILL — Construction of the Rose Hill Volunteer Fire Department is nearly completed. According to Commissioner Gary Boney, who also serves as fire chief, there is still some work to be done inside.

“We got to put some ceiling tiles in and get the kitchen appliances put in,” Boney told the Duplin Journal. “It just takes time when you got several contractors working, if one contractor falls behind it puts everybody else behind too. But we are coming along. We look forward to it being done this year anyway.”

The 14,000-square-foot firehouse, funded with a USDA-Rural Development loan of approximately $3.1 million, features five drive-through double bays for emergency service vehicles, an administration section, a training room, bunk quarters, office space and a better kitchen.

Boney, who has been the town’s fire chief for the last eight years and a firefighter for 45, shared that they are looking forward to using the new facility.

“Our old firehouse was near the railroad tracks on the east side of town and the guys had to cross (Highway) 117, which is a busy thoroughfare there to get to it,” said Boney, adding that the new facility is more centrally located, and it will be easier to get to. “There’s better parking and better training facilities.”

The new building is not only more accessible but provides a vast upgrade from the old fire station, which has three bays that are not big enough to accommodate the firetrucks.

“We have equipment that is kept off site from our station because there is no room for it,” Boney said. “We have room for all of our equipment in the new station.”

According to the fire chief the space is so tight at the old firehouse that they cannot even walk between some of the trucks, and they are looking forward to moving into the new facility when it is completed.

“We’re very excited about it because we’ve got room to store our equipment and do our training in a much better atmosphere,” said Boney.

“What we have up here is all ours. The land, the building, everything is ours,” said Boney.

Unlike other fire departments which are funded by their town, the non-profit volunteer organization has a tax district outside the city limits and will use that revenue to pay for their building and equipment. In addition to that, they are contracted by the Town of Rose Hill to provide fire services.

Currently, there is discussion about the potential uses for the old fire department space. According to a report from the town’s manager, town officials are considering various possibilities from converting it into a community center, using it as a rental facility for small functions, or as extra storage space for administration and additional office space.

By Ena Sellers, Duplin Journal

KENANSVILLE – Denise Mitchell, Duplin County Sheriff’s Office Jail Administrator was recently elected to serve as the North Carolina Jail Administrators Association vice president. She is the first Duplin County official to serve in the distinguished role.  

“It’s an honor to represent the state of North Carolina,” said Mitchell, who has been serving with the Sheriff’s Office Detention Center Division for the last 25 years. 

“She has worked tirelessly to serve the citizens of Duplin County at the Detention Center. I am proud of her many accomplishments over the years,” said Sheriff Stratton Stokes. “She is a role model that our youth and adults alike can look up to and I feel honored to work with her.” 

Mitchell handles the planning, directing and supervising of the jail’s personnel, daily activities, and administrative functions. Despite the massive undertaking, Mitchell remains humble and is looking forward to seeing the new jail project come to fruition.  

While construction of the jail has been approved, it is still unknown if the new construction will feature a 236-bed facility or a smaller one with a capacity of 156 beds. 

“I know it takes time, but we’ve been needing it for the last 15 years or more,” said Mitchell, explaining that the jail is in constant need of repairs, and they lack space to accommodate a growing population of inmates. Another challenge they are faced with is recruiting qualified workers. 

“For the last, maybe, two years we’ve been working shifts trying to keep up our day-to-day jobs,” said Mitchell. 

It is no secret that overpopulation is a growing challenge at the local jail. The constant overflow of inmates, many with mental health issues, is more than the small, outdated facility can accommodate. 

But space is not the only concern at the jail. According to Mitchell, the number of inmates coming in with mental health problems continues to increase. This means those individuals must be kept isolated until evaluated, a task done for everyone’s safety as some can become combative. 

“When (you have) a small jail, you got only a few single cells and mostly what is in a single cell is mental health,” said Mitchell. “…by the time you get those sent out, we have more coming in. It’s a struggle day-to-day trying to place people for their safety.” 

“It’s been tough… for the last 10 years,” said Mitchell, who hopes to see mental health return to normalcy, “not just in Duplin but all jails in general. We got people sitting here that need mental health (assistance).” 

The Duplin detention facility is one of several other jails across the state affected by backlogs in the mental health system. 

“We have a person who has been out of jail, probably waiting for about a year to go to Cherry Hospital,” said Mitchell. Cherry Hospital is a correctional facility hospital located in Goldsboro, serving Duplin among 37 other counties. Currently, the hospital has a waitlist for inmates who go in the order in which each county sent the request. Duplin County is number 100 on the list. 

“They are limited on how many they can take at a time… We had another person who has been waiting for a year, so he had to go in front of the judge because he had served his time, so the judge looked at his case and let him out… Now we got another one waiting,” she explained. “So many counties have the same problems, so they have to put people on a waiting list.” 

“This is the longest I’ve seen a person wait,” said Mitchell, explaining that in the past the wait time was about a month or less. “But now, it’s been like this for the last 4 or 5 years.” 

The big problem with this situation, she explains, is that mental health cases must be isolated and because of the limited space, it holds a bed space that can be used to house someone who should not be out on the streets.  

“They have to stay at the jail until they are accepted at Cherry Hospital, or their case is reviewed by a judge,” Mitchell explained.  

Currently, they have two people waiting to go to Cherry and five others who have not been to court yet. 

The Wallace-Rose Hill High School graduate was appointed jail administrator in 2007 and has been a board member of the NC JAA since 2016. Mitchell holds an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from James Sprunt Community College. She is a life member of the Criminal Justice Society and a member of the American Jail Association. Mitchell also volunteers to help troubled teens and women who suffer from addiction and homelessness.