New cell area

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Several hundred citizens visited the new jail Sunday, and comments were mostly positive about the facility that will house prisoners, courtrooms, and court offices. During Sunday’s open house, the parking lot remain full for several hours as citizens arrived, wandered through the facility and learned about its features.

The jail has three custody levels, with the second floor to hold women inmates out of sight and sound of the male inmates. Pods of cells are mostly two-person cells with a common area, except in the maximum security area where inmates remain separated. There are also minimum-security areas. There is a medical isolation area, indoor recreation areas, a commercial kitchen, laundry area and control tower. The control tower is the heart of the operation, keeping watch on inmate areas and opening doors on request. All doors in the secure area remain locked, with a button to contact the control tower.
Cameras record activities in the jail and outside. The courtrooms also have cameras, as well as an armored bench and panic button. There are rooms near the courtrooms and in the pods where inmates can meet with their attorneys.
Video visitation in the secure area will allow inmates to talk to visitors in the front area so there is no chance for contraband to get in.
The sheriff’s space includes offices for the sheriff, secretary and chief deputy, with space for staff meetings, exercise room, record storage room, evidence rooms, an evidence processing area, storage space for munitions, a detective’s area with four offices, a small conference room, and a lineup area with one-way glass.
Suspects will be brought into the jail through a secured area that the police car drives into. Once the vehicle enters, the doors close before the prisoner is taken out of the vehicle. Once inside, the prisoners will go from the arresting officer to a booking officer. The booking area has a breathalyzer, drunk tank, small holding cells, a fingerprint room, triage room, search areas and shower areas. A decontamination shower is available for officers and prisoners who have been in contact with toxic substances, such as a meth lab. This shower has a holding tank to keep the wastewater out of the normal waste stream and will be treated separately.
The dispatch area and 911 center will be separated from the flow of traffic in the facility, so dispatchers will no longer be handling receptionist-type duties.
The jail is now county property, having been turned over by the architect and insured. Telephone lines are to be transferred by the end of the month and inmates will be moved in as soon as that is done. Inmates currently housed in Bradley County as well as those who were released on their own recognizance when the Fire Marshal closed the old jail will be rounded up to begin serving their time in the county. Commissioner John Pippenger said he has heard there are also a lot of people charged with violation of probation who could be spending time in jail,. He said this will add to the county inmate population but noted that will probably change once the word gets around that violators will be jailed.
Sheriff Bill Davis has said he already been working on getting state inmates, for which the county receives compensation from the state.