Jail equipment obsolete; prisoner population overflows

McCOOK, Neb. — The Red Willow County Jail is less than seven years old, but some of its equipment is obsolete and new sentencing standards are pushing it past capacity.

County commissioners tabled two bids for security system upgrades or replacement, and Sheriff Alan Kotschwar said three prisoners recently had to be transported to the Curtis jail because Red Willow County’s was full.

The county closed its jail in 1983 rather than upgrade to new standards, relying on surrounding counties for jail services for 31 years.

When the new 30-bed jail opened in 2014, it averaged 8 prisoners at a time, Kotschwar said.

Changes in state sentencing guidelines have pushed more long-term prisoners into county jails, leading to an average of more than 20 prisoners in recent months. Eighty percent of jail capacity is considered full, according to state jail standards.

Because of good-time rules, inmates receiving a 300-day sentence usually serve at least 150 days.

One prisoner has been in the local jail a year and a month, and has not yet been sentenced for all his charges, the sheriff noted. Two more facing serious charges are likely to be in the local jail for a long time before being sentenced.

Commissioners opened bids for a new or upgraded security system, but tabled a decision until Feb. 22, so jail administrator Dee Schilz can provide input into the decision.

Accurate Controls, which provided the original system, submitted a bid for $70,063.02 to upgrade system software and replace the five decoder modules now in place, which are near the end of their service life and are no longer manufactured.

Control Masters bid $95,362 for a new system, which includes fewer camera but replaces old ones with 360º versions which cover existing “blind spots” in the jail, as well as recordable sound.

It was noted that Accurate Controls was headquartered in Georgia and would any service would require the county to pay transportation and housing. The company would also require a one-time payment.

Control Masters, on the other hand, is headquartered in Omaha, is providing new security systems for Lincoln County and other Nebraska jails, and would agree to spread payments out over several budget years.

Several county bridges are in need of attention as well, according to Brian Langenberg of Miller & Associates, who recently conducted an inspection.

One bridge was built in 1934 northeast of Lebanon and another, built in 1935 near Bartley, are deteriorating with age but are still serviceable provided weight limits are posted correctly and observed.

A third bridge across a Frenchman-Cambridge irrigation canal, is more problematic, to the point it might need to be taken out of service and the road leading to it closed.

Commission Chairman Earl McNutt said he learned that the Bureau of Reclamation had balked at approving plans to replace the bridge with a culvert, so the cost to design and replace it might be prohibitive.

Only a few farms use the bridge, which crosses one of the main canals from the Swanson Reservoir, but it is a popular place for parties, judging by beer cans and spent cartridges littering the area, which might make closing it a wise decision.

The idea of closing the bridge might have to be put to a public hearing, officials concluded.

In the consent agenda, commissioners approved $156,183.38 in accounts payable and $3,919.81 for payroll and declared a 1985 3/4-ton Chevrolet pick as surplus.

Commissioners also reviewed a letter from Recover Care, a private company that purchases and runs nursing homes, and an anonymous letter about out-buildings on nine properties that may not have been assessed for tax purposes.