Conditions at a decrepit detention facility in downtown Baltimore had grown so dire that detainees were able to dig through the walls of their cells, and the plumbing was so shoddy that human waste was dripping from the ceilings, according to an independent safety report released Wednesday by the state corrections department.

The report, dated Dec. 4, 2025, and recently reviewed by The Baltimore Banner, outlined a litany of problems with the aging Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center. The report was prepared by CGL Companies, which designs and evaluates detention facilities. It included an engineering assessment of the physical safety of the building prepared by Walker Consultants.

The facility opened in 1981. It was designed as an intake center, where detainees would stay for short periods before going to state prisons. The building was more recently used as a pretrial detention facility, and it was plagued by more than just logistical and operational challenges.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services transferred all detainees out of the detention center last month, citing the report and saying the decision was “in the interest of the safety and well-being of the facility’s staff and incarcerated individuals.”

Among the problems outlined in the safety report: a condemned outdoor recreation area; malfunctioning locks on entryways; partially working fire alarm and sprinkler systems; entire sewer pipes that were deteriorating and causing backups every day, allowing human waste to drip from ceilings; and building walls that had become so compromised that detainees were able to breach them and access other cells and the outside world, creating opportunities for contraband smuggling.

Joe Cox, field director of AFSCME Council 3, the union representing correctional officers at the facility, said the report that led to the depopulation of the facility cites safety issues that have “always been the case,” dating back to at least 2009.

“We have no idea why they chose to take such a kneejerk reaction all of the sudden,” Cox said. “These issues have been longstanding.”

Stuart Katzenberg, the union’s director of collective bargaining and growth, said the corrections department’s rationale for evacuation, that there was an imminent engineering and safety concern, is “ridiculous.” Several wardens had requested maintenance funding to fix some of the building issues over the last 15 years, he said.

Cox and Katzenberg also said the evacuation of the facility has led to overcrowding at other pretrial detention centers and at Jessup Correctional Institution.

Yianni Varonis, spokesperson for the correction department, said there is sufficient bed capacity at other pretrial detention centers in Baltimore and that there was no overcrowding at a state prison being used to house pretrial detainees.

Varonis added that the department is working with the public defender’s office to ensure that detainees who have been moved out of Baltimore will not miss court appearances due to logistical or transportation issues.

The attached engineering report assessed the physical structure on the facade of the jail and included a cost estimate for repairs, which was redacted in the documents shared with The Banner. The corrections department has said it is evaluating the future of the downtown jail, which was housing about 393 incarcerated individuals before it was “depopulated” last month. The facility had about 260 budgeted staff positions.

Last year, conditions at the center, an adult facility, drew the attention of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender when water and plumbing issues caused sewage backups and detainees were forced to remain in cells with “unflushed excrement.” Later that year, an HVAC breakdown led to triple-digit temperatures at the same Baltimore facility.