By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Commissioners went shopping Thursday for the best plan to expand the county jail. They were presented with six different options that would allow the jail to better handle the current trends of more female inmates, more medical needs, and more need for drug programs.
The price tags went almost as high as $20 million for the additional housing, plus $9.6 million for a new intake area and new medical area in the jail.
Architect Garry McAnally presented a series of jail housing proposals to meet the county’s needs and budget.
The housing options range from the most expensive expansion adding 73 beds and costing $19,883,122, to the least expensive option actually resulting in three fewer beds overall and costing $15,881,125.
Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw said she appreciated the presentation on the options.
“We have other large projects,” she said. “It will help us make a decision. How much debt do we really want to incur?”
McAnally cautioned that the commissioners shouldn’t delay their decision too long.
“The longer you wait, you will be paying more,” he said.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn also asked that the commissioners select a building option so the project could be “shovel ready” in case the state again awards $20 million for local jail projects next year.
The county jail, located on East Gypsy Lane Road, currently has the capacity to hold 220 inmates. The average there on any given day is 165.
But the number of female inmates continues to increase. The jail can currently house 56 females. The proposed expansions could create a larger dormitory area for women, and flexible swing units that could be used by either gender.
The changes would allow the jail to meet the requirements of the Prison Rape Elimination Act, Wasylyshyn said.
While the expansions add housing flexibility, most do not require more jail staff, since master control areas are designed in the housing pods, with line of sight to every inmate area.
The costs are so great in part because any jail renovations must be up to today’s standards, McAnally said. Also “correctional facilities are specialized projects” with security cells being quite costly to construct.
Capt. Rebecca McMonigal, from the jail, said her top preference was the plan that adds 73 beds for inmates.
“It would put us in the best position for years to come,” she said. It would provide the most space for females, the most flexibility for future growth, and wouldn’t require the addition of staff. But it is also the most expensive, with a price tag of $19.9 million.
When Wasylyshyn took over as sheriff in 2005, the county was spending about $500,000 a year housing local inmates in other jails because Wood County didn’t have enough room.
The estimated cost to expand and fix all the issues at the jail at that point was set at $25 million – more than the county could cover.
So Wasylyshyn proposed a more modest expansion that took care of the need to ship prisoners elsewhere.
“Let’s plug the hole and stop sending $500,000 to other counties,” he recalled saying.
Safety issues were addressed and extra space was added.
“It did better than stop the money going out,” Wasylyshyn said. It resulted in a lot of money coming in.
Last year, the jail took in $400,000 from other counties needing to house their inmates here for $65 a day. Some come from as far as Jackson County, which is four hours away. It’s likely even more will be brought in this year, the sheriff said. That revenue should help pay off the bill for the expansion.
But for now, the Wood County jail is turning away females if they require secure housing.
Housing inmates on cots does not allow options to separate them in cases of mental health issues, medical needs, personality conflicts or if inmates are co-defendants in the same case.
“In the meantime, we have females on cots,” the sheriff said earlier this year. While the jail has been fortunate to not have any safety incidents due to the lack of female housing, the authorities who inspect the facility don’t approve of cots being used for inmates.
