New Woodward jail in the works

Woodward County criminals soon will have a new home away from home when the $8.8 million, 140-bed jail is completed.

Sheriff Gary Stanley said the building will replace the current 40-bed jail, which was built in 1977. The new jail cost $8.8 million and is part of a .625-cent sales tax that was approved for the facility.

“The current jail has 40 beds and we have been averaging 60 to 62 inmates all the time,” Stanley said.

Woodward County Jail has been cited a number of times by the Jail Inspection Division of the Oklahoma Department of Health for jail overcrowding. Stanley said many county jails around the state are being “written up” for overcrowding.

When the jail plans were being made, Stanley and others went to look at Pittsburg County, Macintosh County and Haskell County jails, which are under construction. Kay County recently completed a new jail, and jails also are being built in Cleveland, Washita, Caddo and Washington counties, among others, he said.

“The meth problem has caused all this,” He said. “We have a lot more drug problems since meth because a problem. Garfield County built a new jail four or five years ago and it’s already overcrowded.”

The three-story Woodward jail will contain 140 beds. The first floor will house the kitchen, dispatch area, laundry, booking area, drunk tank, juvenile holding cells, a padded cell for individuals trying to hurt themselves and storage and filing.

The second and third floor will contain cells, with a mezzanine on the third floor where all the cells can be monitored from a central control room.

“The current jail was built in 1977 and it’s 33 years old. The jail inspector said it is the second-most dangerous jail in the state of Oklahoma for employees,” Stanley said.

To check inmates in the old jail, employees must walk down a narrow hallway with cells on both sides and risk someone grabbing them during jail checks. Stanley said the new jail’s central control area will make it much safer for employees.

The Woodward County Sheriff’s Department has 19 employees and an annual budget of about $1 million.

The jail tax includes two-tenths of a cent permanent tax for maintenance and operation of the jail. Stanley said holding 60 inmates requires feeding them three times a day and tending to medical needs.

“It adds up, taking people to the doctor,” Stanley said. “Drug problems are costing counties millions of dollars in just caring for prisoners.”

He said many counties across the state have spent several million dollars on jails. Cleveland County is building a 500-bed jail, although Stanley said he does not know how much that would cost.

“We have people sleeping on the floor. We don’t even have beds for them. When you run out of floor space, what do you do?” he said.

The state of Oklahoma requires 40 square feet for the first inmate in a cell and 20 square feet for each additional prisoner. Therefore, a two-man cell must be 60 square feet. Woodward County frequently has five people sleeping in four-man cell, using portable bunks and spare mattresses. Also, the 33-year-old jail has problems with water lines and plumbing issues that have accumulated over the years.

The new jail is scheduled to be completed Sept. 1, 2011. At that time the inmates will be moved into the new facility and the old jail will be remodeled into the sheriff’s office. The current sheriff’s office will revert to use by the Woodward County courthouse.

Stanley said he is grateful he took bids while construction prices were down: Contractors have told him prices are on their way up again.

He said Woodward County Jail is being built at 60 percent of the normal cost of such a structure and will feature thermal heat and air so it will be more efficient to heat and cool.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Stanley said. “If we’re going to incarcerate people, we must hold them. Woodward is a growing city.

“Some of the counties around are getting smaller and Woodward is still growing. When the population goes up, the inmate population goes up. If we’re going to lock them up, we gotta build a place to hold them.”