The county’s new face of justice Story by Jason Schoonover Photos by Eric Johnson It took more than 16 months of construction and about a decade of discussion, but the Mower County Jail and Justice Center is scheduled to open soon. “Hoorah,” Commissioner Dick Lang said. “That sums up everything. It’s been a long, long process. Well worked on, well thought out.” That sentiment was mirrored by Commissioner Ray Tucker. “I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “It was a long, dragged out affair.” The close of construction ends one of the largest projects in the county’s history. The project is expected to be completed at a final cost of about $28 million, which is lower than the $35.4 million budgeted before the project was bid out. “This was the largest undertaking Mower County has ever done, and we’re coming in on time and The Mower County Jail and Justice Center is complete and ready to open. Once the tours end Monday night, work will shift to moving over on budget,” Tucker said. “It the court administration, county attorney and corrections offices and the courts to the new building. Employees are expected to start work should be a real good service to the in the building the week of Sept. 20. people of Mower County.” Lang said it was needed for “The department of correc“Both sides had good argupublic safety in the community. Commissioner David Hillier noted tions codes have changed, and it’s ments, and at the end of the day, that the building is not outlandish very evident to me that we needed the board decided to put it downand it will be very functional into more than a 90 day jail in this com- town,” Oscarson said. munity,” Hillier said. The board would later vote 3-2 the future. Many people called for the to build the jail downtown with “I think the public will see that it’s an ordinary office building,” board to put the project up to a Dave Tollefson, Dick Lang and Ray Hillier said. “It’s new, it’s clean, public vote, but Oscarson said Tucker voting for the project and it’s fresh, but yet it’s a very ordi- statute does not require a referen- David Hillier and Dick Cummings voting against it. nary office building. I think the dum on such a project. Even with a split vote, The board would decide to public money was used Oscarson said the commiswisely.” sioners moved forward uniTucker noted that the fied to complete the project. building will be a strong “We’re lucky that we had improvement for down“This was the largest board members who moved town Austin, and it’ll be beneficial to keep the undertaking Mower County ahead,” Oscarson said. offices downtown in one has ever done, and we’re A lingering issue spot. Though the building is coming in on time and ‘It got pretty ugly’ finished, the debate on the project has recently filtered on budget.” The jail and justice cenover into the fall campaigns. ter project stems back about a decade to when -Ray Tucker While most of the candidates said serious debate is done, Sheriff Gary Simonson Chairman of Mower County some discussion is likely to requested the National Board of Commissioners continue. Institute of Corrections "While the time for real complete a study on the old debate regarding the justice jail, which was built in the center has come and gone, 1960s. The study found the jail to be build the new jail along with a it’s now up to the voters to decide outdated, too small and in danger new court system to keep the two if the process was handled correctly," Tony Bennett, who is chalof closing in the future. The coun- together for efficiency. The debate then shifted to lenging Lang in District 4, said via ty had to decide to build a new jail or permanently house inmates at where to build. Many groups in an e-mail. With the project completed, the the county and city had differing other facilities. According to County opinions of where and how the board has stressed the need to move forward and operate the Coordinator Craig Oscarson, project should be built. “It got pretty ugly,” Oscarson building in an efficient manner. Mower County currently has an “It’s here. Let’s run it as effi$800,000 boarding budget to house said. There were two schools of ciently as we can,” said inmates elsewhere. According to Hillier, the board thought concerning where the jail Commissioner Mike Ankeny, who The Mower County Jail and Justice Center construction site soon deemed a new jail would be should be built: downtown or by was elected after former commis- as seen from this aerial view with the justice center shaded in green and the Mower County Government Center in Red. sioner Dave Tollefson died. the best option for the community. the Austin Municipal Airport.
Jailers prepare for fall opening
Businesses adapt after moving to make way for jail, justice center Story by Trisha Marczak
This panorama shows a sweeping view of the high security pod and its control station inside the new Jail and Justice Center with Jail administrator Bob Roche and Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi. Story by Jason Schoonover • Photos by Eric Johnson The cells are in place, the locks are ready and cameras are streaming images of the empty jail. Now, jail staff are headlong into training before making the move to Mower County’s new jail. While the are slated to move next week, sheriff Terese Amazi and jail administrator Bob Roche are aiming to move to the new jail and justice center by the end of October. However, Roche said the move could come in November because they are slightly behind on hiring jailers and training jail
staff. “Once we get our staffing up to par, we’re ready to hit the ground running,” Roche said. The jail will have a staff of 31.6 with about 26.6 people charged with operating the jail and five administrative positions. On top of the original 14 staff people making the move from the old jail, an additional 10 jailers have been hired so far. The old jail was built in 1966, and Roche said it's outdated for 2010. Jailers are being trained to
operate the new technology in the jail. All the jailers will be trained to operate the master control station. In main control, a panel of six flat-screen computer monitors are on, showing the various cameras throughout the jail, even though inmates are months from using the facility. The station will be one of the key ways that staff time is reduced in the jail.
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When the Austin City Council passed a statemandated resolution in July of 2008, granting itself the power to seize properties within the Mower County Justice Center construction area, not everyone was pleased with the news — especially business owners who were directly affected. Two years later, after battles and petitions, some businesses owners who were once distraught over the situation are now able to look back and see the transition as somewhat of a positive. Steve Davis, owner of Steve’s Pizza, admits the whole situation caused a big headache for himself and those who worked for his business. But now, with a solid location on one of the
city’s busiest corners — Main Street and Fourth Avenue Northeast — he can say that he’s pleased with where he’s at. “Business is very good,” Davis said. “There are situations with expenses, of course. With the different building, there are a little bit more than we had expected, but all in all, it was a good move.” Davis had built an addition to his old Steve’s Pizza location just before he heard the news of the mandated move. That, along with the fact that he had been in the location for 30 years, made the situation a little tough to swallow. “We built an addition to the old location,” he said. “That’s another reason it was a little upsetting to move. I had invested quite a bit in it.”
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Jail & Justice Center
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
Jail: ‘It’s going to be phenomenal’ Local leaders From Page 1
Prisoners never leave the jail facility, even for recreational time because there’s a small gym and recreational space within each of the three jail units. All of the doors in the jail can be locked and unlocked from main control. Despite the training and work required, Roche and his staff typically agree the move will be worth the effort. “We feel pretty dang good about it,” Roche said. “We think it’s good.” “This is a good facility,” Roche said. “It’s very efficient. It’s good. … Both myself and my staff are very excited.” The current jail has only one door, so all the prisoners, deliveries visitors — everything — passes through
that one door. “Right now, everything we do is through one door, so right now that door is like Minneapolis during rush hour all day long,” Roche said. The new jail is equipped with a secure garage for booking and dropping off inmates. Administrators can enter the jail on the south side of the building near the main control booth and maneuver securely through the jail in a center hallway. There's also a loading dock specifically for food deliveries. “One thing we’re all excited about is the efficiency,” Roche said. The new jail will be much larger than the current jail, and the county will no longer have to pay to board inmates at other facilities. The current jail has an operational capacity of about 32 inmates.
“Over there, it's tight,” Roche said. Each of the three units in the new jail will surpass that total. The two special management units will have 40 beds. The general population unit will have 48 beds. Space likely won’t be a problem in the new jail. The jail is large enough to offer flexibility as the inmate population grows and changes. If there is a population increase in one group, like work release prisoners, then inmates can be moved within the two special management pods. Likewise, the jail is built with room to add new jail units to the north. The booking, laundry, visitation and kitchen areas are all built large enough to accommodate any potential expansions. “It’s going to be just phenomenal, just phenomenal,” Roche said.
An inside look at the new jail MAIN CONTROL Perhaps the most labor intensive spot of the new jail, staff will man a main control desk where jailers control all the doors of the facility. “This is going to be a very, very busy place during the day,” Amazi said. Most of the doors at the current jail operate under lock and key. The technology in the new facility will be a vast improvement. “There’s nothing electronic up there other than some cameras,” she said of the old jail.
PROGRAMMING Programming rooms will be used much like classrooms in the new jail. These rooms are places where inmates can do things like work toward achieving their GED. The current jail is limited to 90-day lockup, so such programs are no longer offered in the jail. “Prior to us becoming a 90-day lockup facility, we had three individuals complete their GED, and they haven't been back,” Amazi said. Most programming is long-term and not possible in a 90-day facility, Roche said. Inmates will serve up to a one-year sentence in the new jail, which could be longer if someone is sentenced to consecutive oneyear sentences.
share views of justice center As the county prepares to open the new jail and justice center, the Herald asked local leaders and citizens about their opinions on what the center will mean for the community of Austin.
Richard Cummings, former commissioner “It’s good to see that it finally got built and will be becoming occupied this month and next month. From my time on the board, it was a necessary thing to do.” “I think it was built in a very efficient manner. It blends in with the courthouse, but I do not think that it is the Taj Mahal that some people maybe say or think it is.”
Garry Ellingson, former commissioner I’m kind of excited. It’s a milestone for the city and the county and it’s just going to be exciting to see it open and see everything they’ve done. I’m sure it’s going to be a vast improvement over the old one.” “I think it looks nice. That is a vast improvement over the buildings we’re sitting in here. It has cleaned up the downtown and will be an improvement in that respect. Only time will tell whether this was the best decision or not.”
Eric Herendeen, Cheif Deputy County Attorney “I think it will good for providing justice in this county. It’s going to be a lot bigger. Our outfit here has very little room. We have boxes stacked everywhere. We’ll have have room to file things. There will be increased security for the public and the victims, People will be brought directly from the jail to the court rooms. I think its a pretty good deal.”
Steve King, Director of Corrective Services “It’s a much need facility from my perspective. We have 13 employees here in corrections. We have office space currently for eight. We have three that will be moving out of a storage room. Outside of their office, it says storage.We have three people that are in really a makeshift type office. We put book shelves to make walls to afford them some kind of privacy. Working in probation, you need that level of privacy. Being able to move from an office with the capacity of eight to over here where we have two offices to spare for growth, is long awaited.” “We’ve been operating here for so long I don’t expect a lot of change. I’m happy that it ended up being down town.“
Kyle Klaehn, community activist
VISITATION Inmates will no longer have direct communication with visitors. Anyone visiting a prisoner will speak to the inmate through a video conferencing station near the main lobby while the prisoner remains in the jail. This reduces the staff time of transporting inmates. Inmates will only have face-to-face visitation with clergy or lawyers inside the jail in special conference rooms inside each jail pod.
“As much as we needed to do something in regards to a holding facility for correctional purposes, my position would be that more money was spent than what would have been needed to accomplish the need for these types of services. I’m not looking forward to the increased expense of the new facility versus old. It will have to come from the taxpayers; it will end up on the tax rolls one way or another. But there’s no stopping it; it’s there, so let’s get it put to use and hope that administration can minimize the additional expense once it’s operational.”
Brian Krueger, Police Chief:
SUPERVISION
RECREATION Traditional jails have one recreational area and inmates are transferred to and from that facility throughout the day. Now, recreational areas are located within each of the three jail housing units. This greatly reduces labor time because all a jailer needs to do is open the cell doors to transport inmates into the recreational area. In the two indirect supervision units, a jailer will monitor prisoners split into multiple pods, each with a separate, enclosed recreational room. In the direct supervision pod, there's only one larger recreational room where inmates will have a few more liberties as long as they maintain good behavior. With good behavior, an inmate will have opportunities for programming and recreation.
With recreational areas located in each of the three jail units, the number of jailers needed to run the facility is greatly reduced. In the two special management pods — one male and one female — one jailer can monitor the areas within the entire unit from an enclosed station. “Our housing unit officers are going to be busy, they're going to be real busy, but we did it as a cost savings for staffing. It brought staffing numbers way down,” Roche said. In the direct supervision housing unit, jail staff will be in the day room with the inmates monitoring them through face-to-face supervision. “It helps the housing officer keep his finger on the pulse of the atmosphere the attitude and everything else that's going on,” Roche said. “So if someone's having a down day, he can pick up on it.”
ROOM TO EXPAND Areas like the kitchen and laundry areas of the jail are larger than needed to accommodate a potential expansion, should that ever be necessary.
“It’s been an opportunity for new employment for people in the area to become detention deputies, so that’s a plus. I’m sure it’ll be business as usual except we’ll have to walk across the street to file complaints. I’m sure it’ll be a win-win situation for everybody.” Kristen Nelsen, county attorney “It’s going to greatly be an improvement over what we have here because it’s going to make our victims much safer. It’s a more conducive environment for victims to wait to go to court. It’s a safer environment for victims. They don’t necessarily need to be sitting in the same row as their offenders in court. “We’ll (the county attorneys office) actually have room for our files. Right now a lot of our files are in boxes overflowing on the floor. We’ll have file cabinets and room for things in the new building. It’ll make us much more efficient.”
Donald E. Rysavy, Third District Judge “I’m very pleased. I think the present situation is such that it is isn’t very safe for people who work here or for people that have to use the facility. The new facility answers and takes care of a lot of those questions. “The door to courtroom number one is directly across from my chambers, people come down the hall way from the jail, right past chambers, to go into the court room No. 1. All of us that use that corridor
Jail & Justice Center
AUSTIN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010
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Downtown’s changing landscape District Judge Donald E. Rysavy, members of the Mower County Commission and other dignitaries break ground during a ceremony for the Jail Justice Center, already under construction in downtown Austin.
A PICTORIAL LOOK BACK AT THE JAIL AND JUSTICE CENTER PROJECT All photos are Herald file photos
The Jail and Justice Center construction site as seen from this aerial view.
A Bobcat scrapes up any loose debris past the now torn down Robbins Furniture sign as work continued in tearing down the Robbin's block buildings.
Left: Bob Mentel of Schammel Electric runs wiring in the Jail and Justice Center during construction. Right: Landscaping for the Jail and Justice Center began this past July.
Businesses: ‘We have no complaints, we are all just really happy’ From Page 1 Though the old location was home to Davis and his business, the new location has brought about changes that may help the business succeed in the future. “I think our location has attracted more people,” he said. “I think we get a lot more
visitors in the summer because we are very visible in the downtown area.” With his son, Alex, interested in moving into the family business, Davis is optimistic that business will continue to grow. Aside from the top-notch location, Davis said the transition went smoother than expected because of the sup-
port from Austin customers. “My customers and the people in Austin were very interested in whether we we’re going to move or not,” he said. “They always showed an interest, and that was a motivator for me.” Sue Goodnature, manager of Anytime Fitness, also said the move proved to be good for business. Formerly located in
the two block area now occupied by the Jail and Justice Center, Anytime Fitness now sits in the Oak Park Mall. “We’re doing great,” she said. “Leasing the business has been awesome. We have no complaints, we’re all just really happy.” In addition to expanded space and a secure location, Goodnature said the company
is enjoying its convenient location, right next to grocery stores, gas stations and shops. They’ve also had the opportunity to give the gym a new look — something Goodnature feels has helped boost its image. “We renovated our space,” she said. “It’s a very nice space. The business has been good for us.”
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AUSTIN DAILY HERALD