A 'worn out' jail

Walking down the halls of the Gage County Jail, it is easy to see it is full.

Twenty-six inmates sat in the jail Tuesday, eight more were housed in four other county jails, with another in the Department of Correctional Facilities in Lincoln.

Currently, the Gage County Jail can hold 30 inmates.

“I always keep three or four free for fresh arresting,” Gage County Sheriff Millard “Gus” Gustafson said.

Once the jail is full, inmates are sent to other jails, costing Gage County between $50 and $60 per inmate each day, plus medical costs.

Gustafson said there are many reasons that, for the past two years, the jail has been regularly full. A new county attorney, a dedicated sheriff’s staff and local sentencing changes have all been factors.

The jail averages around 40 inmates per day.

The Gage County Board of Supervisors and Gustafson have been working on a plan to build a larger facility for Gage County.

They hope to build a new 85-bed facility.

“The first thing would be to hold what we have. Then, hopefully, we’d have extra room for other counties or U.S. Marshals to hold federal prisoners,” Gustafson said.

He said the U.S. Marshals had shown some interest in contracting a few beds last year.

“We have to run it as a business. That way we’d get some income coming in instead of always going out,” he said.

Cost isn’t the only issue with the current jail, built in the mid-1970s.

“It’s not energy efficient,” Gustafson said.

The walls are only brick with no insulation and the windows aren’t well-sealed. During cold Nebraska winters, the temperatures in the jail can drop rapidly.

“The wind blows through the windows like nobody’s business,” he said.

Gustafson said there are also constantly plumbing issues at the jail.

“(The jail) is simply getting worn out,” he said.

Expensive equipment sits in the hallways of the Gage County Jail because there’s no room left. The building is not handicap-accessible. The kitchen is crowded and cluttered. Storage is nearly full.

On top of building issues, the jail style is not “user-friendly” for Gustafson’s staff.

The jail is currently a linear jail setup, where, in order to check on inmates, staff has to walk down corridors to reach cells. In a newer, podular style started in the 1980s, the cells are arranged in a U-shape and staff can control the area easier.

Gustafson knows that the timing for a new jail isn’t ideal.

With a failing economy, he isn’t sure if the public will support a bond issue for the jail’s construction.

Cutting the size down from 110, the proposed need in 20 years, he and the county board settled on 85 inmate capacity to cut the cost.

That cuts the cost from an estimate of $10 to $12 million down to approximately $8 million for construction alone.

“It’s more realistic right now, more feasible. We’re trying to do the best we can,” he said.

Both Gustafson and Supervisor Gary Barnard said that there is a possibility they will go to an even lower number on the jail size if necessary.

“We could fill half of the 85 right away and that would also give us room to grow over the next few years,” Gustafson said.

Although the cost will look quite large in the bond issue, Gustafson said the annual cost will be cheaper due to less building issues and housing Gage County inmates instead of sending them to other jails.

As for a location, county officials have yet to pick a spot.

“That’s actually the only thing holding us back from the bond issue right now,” Gustafson said.

Once the land is locked in by the county, the Board of Supervisors will hand the decision over to the public.

“We initially would like, in spring, to let it go to the public,” Gustafson said.

From there the decision of a new jail facility will be up to voters.

Recently, a $15.3 million bond issue failed in Seward County. The bond issue was for a new jail facility, as well as remodeling the Seward County Sheriff’s Office, the communications office and the emergency operations office, Terry Kamprath, Seward County jail administrator, said.

In Saunders County, jail director Dan Scott waits for the keys to a new jail facility, scheduled to be complete Feb. 1, 2009.

Saunders County passed a bond issue for $12.7 million, allowing for not only a new jail facility, but new offices for the county attorney, district and county courts, the sheriff, 9-1-1 dispatch and a number of other offices.

“The cost is actually ending up to be 20 to 40 percent higher due to escalation in material prices,” Scott said.

Even so, he said the facility will benefit the whole county.

“We’ll generate income and provide employment to Wahoo (the county seat) and the county, helping the local economy,” he said.

He said the jail is already accepting applications for a number of positions, specifically female corrections officers.

Scott expects a raise in the number of people sentenced to jail, also.

“Sometimes judges are reluctant to sentence offenders to jail when they know the jail is full,” he said.

Saunders County will go from a 16 to 20 bed facility, built in 1929, to a modern 155 bed facility.

With the modern facility, female inmates will also be housed in Saunders County. Before they had to be sent to other jails for holding.

In Gage County, female inmates can be held, which adds to the number of inmates already held in Gage County.

Scott said the benefits of a new jail far exceed the costs.

“It’d be a good plan, but it’ll all be up to the voters if we get it up by spring,”  Gustafson said.