Public packs the new jail to check out what it got for its money

By Emilie Holmes

The new county jail sits ready for inspection. / Photo by Thad Stott

March 22, 2004 | The primary responsibility of the sheriff's office is to maintain a jail facility. At least, that's what Deputy Bryan Hawkins says.

And, Cache County has definitely lived up to its "primary responsibility" with the completion of its new correctional facility, which will begin housing inmates Monday and Tuesday.

"We're very excited about it," Lt. Kim Cheshire said. "We're tired of being in the old facility. It's run down . . . not very safe."

The new county jail, at 1225 W. 200 North in Logan, has been under construction since October 2002 and cost county tax payers just under $14 million, Cheshire said.

Since it was paid for with public money, Cheshire said, it seemed right to let people see the insides of the jail before it was occupied.

And, the people sure did see it. Cheshire said an average of 6,000 people a day toured the facility Thursday and Friday, and more were expected Saturday.

"[The public] really didn't understand how big this was," Cheshire said.

"We're had a lot more come through than we thought we would, though."

The current jail, at 200 N. 100 West, has been too small for the county for years, Hawkins said.

"The current facility is supposed to hold 77 people," he said. "We have 115 right now."

The new complex will hold 360 inmates and has room to expand to hold more than 1,000.

It will also serve as an administrative building for the sheriff's office.

The jail was getting so overcrowded, Hawkins said, that the county hasn't been allowing people to be booked for petty thefts, intoxication or other minor law discrepancies.

"For every person who came in, we had to kick someone out the other side," Hawkins said. "Some people get released as early as three months."

People who attended the open-house got to see things such as the garage where inmates are brought in, holding cells where uncooperative inmates are held, the kitchen, laundry room, chapel, recreation rooms and actual cells.

The knives in the kitchen are kept cabled to one place with a 3-foot radius, Hawkins said, since inmates help in the kitchen too.

The walls surrounding the kitchen are all glass to anyone can see what's happening inside.

"We check five or six times a day to see that we have all our knives," he said. "I can tell you right now there are nine knives in there now.

Two female inmates work in the laundry room each day for eight hours at a time. Hawkins said it's an opportunity many inmates want, because it helps pass time.

The facility is set up as a pod with an upper and lower level. In the center, a pod control room sees into blocks A through G on the bottom level and blocks H though O on the top.

The glass on the inside of the blocks is a mirror ­ from the outside, the glass is clear so those in the pod control room can see in.

Blocks A through G hold minimum, medium and maximum security inmates ­ with two bunks in each cell. Blocks H through O hold public release inmates in a dormitory style.

Those inmates are released for work, school and counseling five or six days each week.

On the lower level, Hawkins said maximum security inmates are released from their cell for one hour each day to shower, accept visits, use jail cleaning supplies to clean their cell and talk with other inmates in their block.

Medium security inmates are released from their cells for eight hours each day.

Hawkins said the inmates take turns ordering movies (PG-13, PG or G) from Hastings every Friday to watch in their block. They also can buy pizza and drinks if they want.

"But, we charge them $1.50 every slice and $3 a pop," he said. "So, they pay for it."

The inmates who don't receive public release can take classes from inside the jail.

Three classrooms hold classes such as Alcoholics Anonymous, creative writing, art, finance and Spanish to English, among others. Inmates can also work on their GED while in jail. One chapel is on the upper level and one of the lower

"Everything in the chapel was donated from local churches," Hawkins said. Also housed in the jail complex is the county civil division, a state emergency operations center and administrative offices.

Sgt. Jim Meacham, who works part-time in the civil division, said most of their work is serving papers and protective orders. Meacham said the average amount of time to serve papers for other state county offices is eight days.

For Cache offices, the average time is 1.4 days.

"We're kind of proud of that," he said.

The emergency operations center, Hawkins said, would be used if there were an emergency on the Wasatch Front

"The governor would come up and run the state from here," he said. Friday night, the county sponsored a "Bed and Breakfast," when community members could spend the night in the jail locked in cells. Local scout troops also spent the night.

"It's a full house," Cheshire said about Friday night. "Every bunk [was] full." Hawkins said all 115 inmates will be moved in a two-hour period next week, but Cheshire said the exact time and how it will be done is "a secret," but it will be done between Monday and Tuesday.

The rest of the business offices and phone lines will be moved to the new location by Friday.

The current jail will be torn down and the land given back to Logan city, Cheshire said. He said he's heard the city might replace the jail with a parking terrace or convention center.

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