Locals take tour of new jail facility

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen BLOCK E: A group of local officials and community leaders tour Cell Block E at the new Garland County Detention Center on Wednesday.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen BLOCK E: A group of local officials and community leaders tour Cell Block E at the new Garland County Detention Center on Wednesday.

About 25 local elected officials and citizens received a tour of the new Garland County Detention Center under construction off Highway 270 west Wednesday afternoon.

Multiple justices of the peace, Garland County Treasurer Tim Stockdale, Garland County Tax Collector Rebecca Dodd-Talbert, representatives of The Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce, and Dwayne Pratt, executive director of the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District, and others were in attendance for the first public tour of the jail Wednesday afternoon.

According to construction officials, the roof on the facility is scheduled to be completed early next week, which would allow work to continue on days when the weather is poor.

"That will help a great deal," said Jerry Pogue, jail construction project administrative assistant to County Judge Rick Davis.

According to the Garland County Sheriff's Department, the facility covers 156,000 square feet, has eight separate housing units, a capacity of 482 inmates, a physical fitness area and training area for detention staff, and a courtroom to minimize inmate transports, and all housing units except one have a triage room where medical staff will medically screen inmates.

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The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen JAIL CELL: This photo shows the inside of a two-person cell at the new Garland County Detention Center. Local officials toured the facility on Wednesday.

The detention center's inmates will be observed in a new "direct supervision" a format that "places the correction officers directly within the inmate living area, or pod, and provides the officer immediate visual observation and continual interaction with each of the inmates," according to the website for the St. Louis County, Mo., jail, which has direct supervision.

"Unlike what we have now which is called indirect supervision where you have an officer outside looking at inmates, this jail will be direct supervision," Justice of the Peace Mickey Gates said during the tour.

The county announced recently that completion of the new $42 million Garland County Detention Center project has been delayed again due to weather, but it is still on schedule for occupancy by the end of the year.

Nabholz Construction Services said that the construction is now anticipated to be completed by Sept. 30, according to a news release. The detention center was originally scheduled to be completed on July 30.

In October 2011, voters approved a three-eighths cent sales tax for operation and maintenance of a new jail and a temporary five-eighths cents sales tax for the construction of a new jail.

Local on 05/29/2014

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