Remodeled Ellis Co. Jail doubles inmate capacity (VIDEO)

Ellis Co. Sheriff Ed Harbin waits to be buzzed into a two-person jail cell.

By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post

Construction is all but complete and the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office began returning inmates to the newly remodeled jail Monday.

Sheriff Ed Harbin gave a tour of the facility to Hays Post reporters Jon Zweygardt and Becky Kiser Monday. All doors are now remotely locked and employees were “still getting used to the changes,” Harbin pointed out.

Ellis County Sheriff Ed Harbin said they transferred 20 inmates back to Ellis County on Monday. They will continue to bring back 16 inmates a day until the majority of the inmates housed out-of-country is transferred back to the new jail.

Harbin said the jail now has 72 bunks, although how many inmates are actually housed in the jail will depend on several factors, including who is housed at the jail and what they are in jail for.

The maximum security area can be further segregated for inmate safety by electronically closing doors .

Before the remodel the prisoner capacity was down to approximately 30. Now the jail will hold more than double the inmate population. But the county will still have to house a limited number of inmates out of county for various reasons, including keeping the male and female population separated and some inmates with special needs.

During Monday’s commission meeting Dean Haselhorst applauded the effort of the sheriff’s department for their work and said it is good to finally get the construction work finished.

“We can officially say it is open after, basically 90 days of being behind schedule,” said Haselhorst “Hopefully by Thursday, it sounds like we could have all of our inmates transferred back to Ellis County.

It was costing the county at least $70,000 per month to house inmates at the jails in Dodge City, Trego, Rooks, Barton and Graham counties, according to Harbin.

Harbin said the jail is now a lot safer and more secure with the implementation of new electronic locks and security cameras throughout the facility. “It’s state of the art,” he added.

jail control room — The control system operates all doors in the jail.

Among the changes–no more steel bars. Instead, the inmates are housed in jail cells with reflective safety glass so they cannot see out but officers can see into the cells. The whole jail facility is controlled by a control station in the center of the jail.

There are holding cells on each floor so inmates going to court do not have to be in the public areas. A new elevator takes inmates from the jail to the courtrooms so they again, do not have to be in the same area as the public.

Harbin said the way they used to bring inmates from the jail to the courtrooms could have led to inmates attempting to escape.

Another new feature is a video conferencing system that will limit the inmate’s personal contact with the public. They instead will be able to use the video system to talk with visitors.

Harbin, who filed for his sixth term as county sheriff this week, said it was great to see the changes the facility has gone through and said it was “much needed.”