Jay County Jail to limit intake

Local residents won’t be visiting the sheriff’s office any time soon.

Some offenders won’t be staying there, either.

After Thanksgiving, the Jay County Jail lobby closed to the public and reverted back to restrictions set in April when the first coronavirus wave swept through Jay County.

Civilians in the county charged with Level 5 or Level 6 felonies or misdemeanors will not be housed at the jail in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19. (In the spring, Level 5 felonies were not included.)

Instead, those offenders will be sent to the county prosecutor’s office and receive warrants and court dates. Violent offenses and higher felonies will still result in arrests and bookings into jail.

These restrictions will be in place until further notice.

As of this morning, there are 98 inmates in jail. Capacity is 144, and there have been have been about 100 inmates for the last few weeks.

Jail officials made the decision before commissioners agreed to sign the resolution earlier this week to limit county government employees to essential work only and require in-person courthouse business to appointments only.

Indiana State Department of Health reported 40 new cases for the county Tuesday. Fifteen total from the county have died from the virus thus far.

Sheriff Dwane Ford and other officials noticed the numbers climbing and decided it was in the best interest for jail occupants to limit foot traffic.

“It’s a confined facility and we definitely don’t want our inmates to get this if we can keep it out,” Ford said. “With the close contact back there, it would spread really quickly.”

Chief deputy Patrick Wells noted the jail has been “super lucky” that its inmates haven’t caught the virus. Several workers at the facility have been quarantined in recent months after testing positive for COVID-19.

Officers may not be looking for as many vehicle infractions as normal, but they still are enforcing laws such as if someone runs a stop light or sign, Ford said.

County officers and jail workers will also handle calls via phone if possible.

Besides city hall closing, not much has changed for Portland Police Department, said assistant chief Josh Stephenson. He noted police are still handling patrols and calls in-person as needed.

“We are still doing our day-to-day activities as far as patrols, checks, we’re still making arrests,” he said. “It’s always a concern for our officers but (they’re) still being active and doing what they need to do.”

The same goes for the Dunkirk Police Department, said police chief Dane Mumbower. So far, the department hasn’t had any issues.

Mumbower said it’s important to be cautious with the pandemic looming.

“Well, it’s just the unknown really,” he said. “If you’re not taking the proper steps to protect yourself, let alone others, especially with the incubation period of COVID, you could be walking along quite a while before you know you’re a carrier.”

He suggested checking in with friends and neighbors, especially those in quarantine, to see if they need help with anything.

Ford said Jay County Jail will continue to limit its intake until the amount of COVID-19 cases in the county start to decrease.

“We’ll just have to wait and play it by ear,” Ford said. “If we start seeing the numbers go down, we’ll start opening up things gradually.”