By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A few years ago, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn had to make a choice – add more beds to the county jail or add more space to the jail booking area.
The jail expansion was priced at about $3 million and the booking area reconfiguration was priced at about $5 million. And since the county was already spending money by paying other counties to house Wood County’s overflow inmates, the 75-bed jail expansion project won out.
When Wasylyshyn took over as sheriff, the county was spending about $500,000 a year on housing prisoners elsewhere. “Let’s stop the flow of Wood County money,” the sheriff remembered thinking.
The decision paid off, with Wood County jail being able to house all of the local inmates plus bringing in an extra $130,000 last year for housing prisoners from other counties.
But now, Wasylyshyn would like to revisit the booking area project. He had requested $5,000 from the county commissioners to have an architectural firm look at reconfiguring the booking area to add more holding cells and move the medical area closer to booking. The commissioners rejected that request, saying new Commissioner Ted Bowlus should be able to review the request.
So on Thursday, the sheriff was back before the commissioners, asking again for the $5,000 to get new drawings for an expanded booking and medical area. The sheriff also hopes to get a cost estimate for the project, predicting it will be higher than the $5 million estimate a few years ago.
Photo of crowded booking area at Wood County jail.
The commissioners listened to Wasylyshyn’s proposal, but made no decision.
The sheriff and Jail Administrator Rhonda Gibson described how the current holding cells are insufficient for the number of prisoners that get processed at the jail. The issue is worsened when there are “very challenging” inmates who have severe mental health issues, are going through detox, or have serious medical needs.
New state legislation under consideration would worsen the problem by sending more felony prisoners to county jails, Gibson said. “It could make a significant impact,” she said.
Several times, inmates have to be doubled up in holding cells. “Those holding cells aren’t meant to be double occupied,” Gibson said. Other times, prisoners have to be temporarily housed in the visitation room.
There are just too many prisoners who cannot be placed into the regular jail cells because they need close observation due to suicidal issues, medical problems, mental health problems, intoxication, or they are detoxing from heroin or alcohol.
The booking area currently has five cells. Gibson said ideally, the new configuration would include at least two group holding cells, some detox cells, and a couple more holding cells specifically for females.
Commissioner Doris Herringshaw said the board will take the request under advisement.
“We have to think where that leads us in the future with long-range planning,” she said.
