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Editorial
Looking to the future,
jail addition is needed
On Monday, the county’s supervisors directed County Administrator John McCarthy to have preliminary plans drawn for an addition to the county jail. A proposal from Sheriff John Henry Woodward calls for a three-story addition containing a kitchen, offices and more cell space, including a drunk tank.
The Board of Supervisors, facing an uncertain future with the current contract for inmates’ food with the Hampton Inn, has been approached by the county schools with an informal offer to use the kitchen at one of the schools to prepare meals.
While at first glance that would seem to be an ideal solution, there are important and, as yet unanswered, questions. Would the buildings be open, without fail, 365 days a year for three meals? Who would insure the workers against injury or liability? Would the state approve the funding for kitchen help for the Sheriff’s Department if the meals were not being prepared at the jail? What recourse would the county have if objections were raised at a later date by the Department of Corrections or the schools, either at the state or local level?
From another perspective, the county jail needs more space. According to Sheriff Woodward, the jail’s average population has risen in the past three years from 7-3/4 to 12 inmates per day. Right now, there are only 14 beds available. During the next few years, the average inmate population is likely to continue to rise.
Because of crowded quarters at the jail building, last year Sheriff Woodward and his deputies moved their offices into the building also occupied by the Commissioner of Revenue. An addition at the jail would enable them to move back, also freeing up extra office space for the county’s expanding staff.
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