July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Officials see jail time (03/04/08)
By By MIKE SNYDER-
Research for what could be a multi-million dollar project meant spending a little time in jail for several Jay County officials Monday.
All three Jay County Commissioners and six of seven members of the Jay County Council, along with Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton, traveled to western Indiana for a tour of the Clay County Jail in Brazil.
The Clay jail, which opened in 2006, was constructed using a "pod" system, designed to maximize visibility into secure areas.
The tour was arranged by Schenkel-Schultz Architecture, which has been hired for the Jay jail project and which also designed the Clay County facility.
Members of the Jay County contingent were impressed with layout of the two-year old facility they toured Monday.
The layout features a nearly circular arrangement of two-story plexiglass-fronted cells with a central watch tower slightly higher than the second story of the cell block.
The configuration, which is supported by high-tech intercom and video monitoring system, allows one person to be the eyes and ears over most of the jail's approximately 125 inmates.
Jay County Commissioners have approved the preparation of schematic drawings for an expansion project that could include construction of a new secure area north of the current jail. The expansion site, owned by the county, has a garage and served as the home of several automobile dealerships.
The work would also include reconfiguration of some of the current jail area, along with renovation and expansion of administrative space and 911 operations.
Depending on options chosen by the commissioners, the project could range from $4 to $8 million. A study of the county's finances approved last week could help answer which of the options is chosen.
Newton, who has been pushing the jail project since taking office Jan. 1, 2007, said this morning the tour helped him visualize a pod system on a scale similar to the project being proposed in Jay County.
"If they do decide to do this, the inmates and the staff will be ... more safe. With that system they can look at what is going on in the cell blocks at all times. It's a nice system ... I think we can prevent a lot of things happening by having the pod system," said Newton.
"It just depends on how much money we can come up with, and we'll go from there with it. If we go to this system, I think it's going to be a long time before we have to worry about updating.
Taking the trip Monday were Jay County Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer and Faron Parr; council members Gerald Kirby, Judy LeMaster, Marilyn Coleman, Fred Bailey, Jim Zimmerman and George Meehan; 911 director Bill Baldwin and Newton. Both Kirby and Meehan are former Jay sheriffs.
Jeff Badders, a Portland resident who works with Schenkel-Schultz, arranged the trip.
Ken Rollings is commander of the Clay County Jail. Unlike in Jay County, the sheriff controls law enforcement operations and Rollings oversees the jail. Rollings said the new facility is safer and more efficient than the previous jail - both for inmates and prison staff.
He also recommended county officials tour other jails to gather more information.
Each "pod" in the system is fronted by plexiglass with secure doors that open into a circular room under the guard tower on the first level.
Most of the pods have four individual cells (two each on the first and second level) with a common area on the first floor featuring tables and chairs. The upper level cells are accessed via stairs inside the pod.
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All three Jay County Commissioners and six of seven members of the Jay County Council, along with Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton, traveled to western Indiana for a tour of the Clay County Jail in Brazil.
The Clay jail, which opened in 2006, was constructed using a "pod" system, designed to maximize visibility into secure areas.
The tour was arranged by Schenkel-Schultz Architecture, which has been hired for the Jay jail project and which also designed the Clay County facility.
Members of the Jay County contingent were impressed with layout of the two-year old facility they toured Monday.
The layout features a nearly circular arrangement of two-story plexiglass-fronted cells with a central watch tower slightly higher than the second story of the cell block.
The configuration, which is supported by high-tech intercom and video monitoring system, allows one person to be the eyes and ears over most of the jail's approximately 125 inmates.
Jay County Commissioners have approved the preparation of schematic drawings for an expansion project that could include construction of a new secure area north of the current jail. The expansion site, owned by the county, has a garage and served as the home of several automobile dealerships.
The work would also include reconfiguration of some of the current jail area, along with renovation and expansion of administrative space and 911 operations.
Depending on options chosen by the commissioners, the project could range from $4 to $8 million. A study of the county's finances approved last week could help answer which of the options is chosen.
Newton, who has been pushing the jail project since taking office Jan. 1, 2007, said this morning the tour helped him visualize a pod system on a scale similar to the project being proposed in Jay County.
"If they do decide to do this, the inmates and the staff will be ... more safe. With that system they can look at what is going on in the cell blocks at all times. It's a nice system ... I think we can prevent a lot of things happening by having the pod system," said Newton.
"It just depends on how much money we can come up with, and we'll go from there with it. If we go to this system, I think it's going to be a long time before we have to worry about updating.
Taking the trip Monday were Jay County Commissioners Milo Miller Jr., Gary Theurer and Faron Parr; council members Gerald Kirby, Judy LeMaster, Marilyn Coleman, Fred Bailey, Jim Zimmerman and George Meehan; 911 director Bill Baldwin and Newton. Both Kirby and Meehan are former Jay sheriffs.
Jeff Badders, a Portland resident who works with Schenkel-Schultz, arranged the trip.
Ken Rollings is commander of the Clay County Jail. Unlike in Jay County, the sheriff controls law enforcement operations and Rollings oversees the jail. Rollings said the new facility is safer and more efficient than the previous jail - both for inmates and prison staff.
He also recommended county officials tour other jails to gather more information.
Each "pod" in the system is fronted by plexiglass with secure doors that open into a circular room under the guard tower on the first level.
Most of the pods have four individual cells (two each on the first and second level) with a common area on the first floor featuring tables and chairs. The upper level cells are accessed via stairs inside the pod.
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