Legislators seek more oversight after deadly prison violence

Twenty South Carolina prisoners have been killed at the hands of fellow inmates in the past 16 months.

The staggering amount of violence, which includes the gang-fueled bloodshed that left seven prisoners dead and 22 injured this week at Lee Correctional Institution, has some legislators calling for more oversight and transparency at the state Department of Corrections.

At a news conference, Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said officers stormed in and took the first of three dorms back from rioting prisoners about four hours after the melee began on Sunday night.

He said the officers were assembled at the rural prison as quickly as possible and went in only when it was safe to do so.

After the institution was back under control, it then took more time to get injured inmates to hospitals. The prison is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Columbia.

"It shouldn't take five hours to get in there and put some water on these fires," said state Rep Justin Bamberg, a Democrat and lawyer whose clients include the families of several inmates who were attacked in previous instances.

Contraband cellphones and staffing shortages are often blamed for many of the department's woes.

Stirling, who oversees 21 prisons and more than 19,000 inmates, has said he's hired some of the 500 corrections officers he needs, but stresses the need for funding more officers.

Sen Gerald Malloy, whose district includes Lee Correctional, said the government has a responsibility to keep the prison population safe and thinks lawmakers need to look at whether cost savings in corrections has been efficient.

"The burden comes back to the General Assembly, what are you going to do?" he said.