Facility Design

Linear jail design stretches cells along long hallways and around acute angles, creating blind spots and the need for closed circuit television or other means to maintain 24/7 visual surveillance. Podular jail design, which is proposed for new facility, features a master control area in the center with cells and program areas surrounding the perimeter in a circular or pie-shaped layout. Staff doesn’t need to run down long corridors to see what’s going on because there are clear sight lines for observation of inmates and activities at all times. Cameras simply supplement direct supervision but aren’t the sole source of monitoring. Learn more about podular vs. linear design.

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Other facility design issues include:

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• The current jail design has a limited number of cell units and does not provide for proper inmate classification - it actually reduces the usable design capacity. 

• The current inmate has many more problematic issues than in the past which creates a need for special needs beds and more cell beds vs. dorm beds.

• The elevator to the 3rd floor jail creates a security risk to the staff but also restricts quick medical and/or officer support response when needed. If power is lost, there is no access to 3rd floor.

• There are no true special needs beds to allow for ADA classification.

• Staff areas are insufficient with limited office space, break areas, meeting rooms, and dedicated programming space. Offices are inefficiently spread throughout facility and some are simply placed into old cells. The control room, which should be a dedicated space, doubles as a staff break room.

• No on-site medical space.

• Kitchen has poor operational flow preventing a straight process so staff has to move back and forth to complete work  which is inefficient. The ceiling leaks over the food prep area so food often has to be moved to better location to prep. Due to limited space, there are only two ovens so meals have to be planned around what fits in the ovens and the ovens are positioned in a way that staff is prone to burning themselves. There are no food warmers and limited space for storing food in kitchen/cooler/freezer so only 2 week supply can be ordered at a time. Lastly, all food crate orders have to be brought to 3rd floor which is not practical.

• Limited space for laundry function and area is also being used for overflow storage which results in staff having to pull items out to get to what they need. Currently using residential washing machine and an old commercial grade dryer.

• Space and storage constraints throughout facility including inmate property storage/lockers, inmate clothing storage, cleaning supplies, etc. 

• Server rooms are in multiple locations and in cramped spaces so equipment is spread throughout facility - often not in ideal conditions for maintenance.

• Sally Port is narrow with limited ceiling height. Cannot fit transportation bus or full size emergency vehicles. The existing sally port only allows one inmate transfer at a time.

• Air handling system doesn't provide proper air exchanges. No negative pressure cells to isolate inmates to prevent the spread of an illness from cell to cell.

• Multiple instances where water from plumbing issues on the jail floor made its way to the floor below, causing extensive damage to offices, courtrooms, staff areas, and computer equipment.

• There are no secure perimeters that provide easy access to electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems so staff has to lock inmates down to do general repair work.

• Bridge to the courthouse has concrete crumbling in several areas.