![]() “In my opinion, that jail is beyond its life,” he said. Pruess said he'll be voting in favor of the justice center bond. ![]() Wagner said the inspector says the county must continue to ship out extra inmates to keep a proper balance of the types of inmates, based on the seriousness of their crimes, housed at the jail. The jail is inspected by the state annually. He found the conditions so cramped he said he was surprised the jail is not in violation of some regulations. Rex Pruess, 61, of Iowa City, went on a tour Tuesday. The possessions of inmates who are held out of county are stored in what is basically the garage, with dozens of bags hanging from racks. Three exercise bikes are kept in a room where meetings also occur. Wagner said the jail is squeezed for space beyond just the cell blocks.Īfter a bond issue for a new jail failed in 2000 - with 65 percent of voters opposed - an exercise room was divided and is now used as a holding cell on one side and a staff dining room and kitchen storage on the other. Regardless, he said, using other jails is a short-term solution. As the inmate population has grown, Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said that's now arguable. ![]() That figure does not include transportation costs.Ī few years ago county officials said it was still cheaper to send extra inmates elsewhere than to build a new jail. The county spent nearly $1.2 million that year to house inmates in other county jails. In fiscal 2012, the average daily inmate population was 156. Wagner said that before the county started sending overflow inmates out of county a decade ago, some cells held three people, with the extra person sleeping on a mattress on the floor. There is a flat-screen television on the wall, a four-seat table, decks of cards, reading material and a wall-mounted phone. Immediately outside the cells is a small day room where inmates can spend time when they are not in lockdown overnight. A small metal desk, toilet and sink are in each cell. As Johnson County's population grew, so did the number of people arrested, and the county started double-bunking inmates in 1990, Wagner said.Ĭells are in two long hallways on the jail's second floor - a linear design that Wagner said makes it harder to monitor inmates.Ī look inside C block, which is a maximum-security area, showed four cells, each containing bunk beds so eight people total can be held. The jail opened in 1981 with a 46-inmate capacity.
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