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| Spending to upgrade aging jails can be tough sell |
| By www.omaha.com - Andrew J. Nelson |
| Published: 09/06/2012 |
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GLENWOOD, Iowa — Once a prisoner is booked into the century-old jail here, he is led to his cell by way of the kitchen. That is the only way to get from the jail's entrance to where prisoners are held. This poses a problem. Kitchens have knives, forks and boiling water. If a prisoner is combative, drunk or high on methamphetamine, the setup endangers Mills County deputies and jail employees. “There's been more than one time when we've had a fight on the floor where we've had the stove running,” said Sheriff Eugene Goos. He slapped the refrigerator door where a marker board covers a dent from a fight. For Goos and his 10 deputies, that will soon change. Mills County voters last month approved a $6.4 million bond issue to build a new Sheriff's Office and jail. The owner of a house valued for tax purposes at $100,000 will pay about $25 a year for the new jail, which Goos hopes will open by summer 2014. Goos and his agency are in the middle of a jail-replacement process facing rural communities throughout Nebraska and Iowa. The problem: aging and deteriorating jails built to standards that are no longer considered safe for inmates, deputies or the public. The public is typically reluctant to spend millions to house criminals, and county officials are confronting the problem during tough economic times. “No one is thrilled about spending that kind of money on a jail,” said Sheriff Bob Moore of Antelope County, Neb., which is planning a new $6.9 million jail. Read More. |
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