Quorum Court approves $1.7 million in upgrades for jail

The Union County jail is seen in this News-Times file photo.
The Union County jail is seen in this News-Times file photo.

The Union County Quorum Court last week agreed to let the Sheriff Ricky Roberts spend $1.7 million on upgrades and improvements at the county jail.

Roberts first broached the topic of improving some of the jail's facilities in March, when he gave Justices of the Peace an overview of the first meeting of a community jail committee formed to strategize ways to reduce recidivism in the community. He told JPs he gave the committee a tour of the facility so they could see the challenges faced there.

At the time, District 7 JP Johnny Burson asked Roberts what his "Christmas list" for the jail would include.

"You shouldn't ask him that; he wants a new jail," joked District 1 JP Mike Dumas.

Roberts said he had several maintenance projects that needed to get done, and during a special-called meeting of the Quorum Court's Finance Committee on April 7, he detailed what work needed done.

Included in his list were new showers for the women's side of the jail; ventilation in the shower area; a water station to allow inmates to serve themselves cold water; five new air conditioning units; a new maintenance shop; upgrades for the cell door locks; and other small improvements, like painting, which he said he and other UCSO staff members planned to undertake themselves.

"You asked for a wish list; this is a wish list," Roberts told JPs.

Roberts explained that mold has started growing in the women's showering area at the jail due to the lack of ventilation.

"A lot of it is, there is no ventilation in those pods and in those cells," he said. "We will go back and look at if it's possible to put some vents to help us with the mold and the issues we're having."

He said the water stations would save correctional officers time.

"It's a kind of water fountain in the pod, because right now, we're having to change out water coolers and ice so they can have cold water. Getting these water stations will eliminate that and it'll be a little less taxing on our staff and a whole lot better for those guys, our inmates, to have fresh water whenever they need it – not that they don't get it now," Roberts said in a follow-up interview after the Finance Committee meeting.

The five A/C units would complete an upgrade to the jail's HVAC system that began in 2019, he said, and the maintenance shop would replace one that has rotted out. The UCSO recently hired a mechanic for small repairs to deputy vehicles, which Roberts said will help save money.

"We need to get him out of the weather," he said. "We would like to get him a shop that we can put stuff in, that he can work on vehicles (inside) if it's cold outside or whatever."

The door locks, he said, are outdated and need updating to keep the jail safe.

"We had an issue this past week where we couldn't open the cell doors, so you're scrambling to find a key, and sometimes you can find a key to open that cell door and sometimes you can't," he explained. "If there is ever any time that we can't open that door, we're in a bind."

Roberts said he was planning to roll up his sleeves to begin the painting work at the jail.

During this month's regular Quorum Court meeting on April 20, Dumas, who chairs the Finance Committee, presented an ordinance for consideration that would appropriate $1,539,813 from COVID-19 relief monies that have been appropriated to the county for the jail renovations.

The funds would be appropriated from the county's CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act fund; LATC (Local Assistance and Tribal Consistency) Fund; and its ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) fund, all of which contain federal coronavirus relief money. The ordinance calls for using $420,711 from the CARES fund; $97,010.34 from the LATC fund; and $1,022,091.66 from the ARPA fund.

"After we pull this out, here's what's remaining in those funds: $250,000 remains in the CARES Act... we took all the money out of the LATC line item of $97,010, but there's another $97,000 that's due us this year and will be coming in the next 60-90 days... and the American Rescue Plan, where we started out with $6,325,000, we took out $1 million, we still have $5,303,000 left in that line item," Dumas said.

An additional $200,000 would come from the commissary revenue the UCSO earns from inmates through food sales, phone calls, etc.

"Hopefully that'll generate some more money and we'll be even at the end of the year," Roberts said.

He expanded on his wish list again at this meeting, telling JPs he planned to purchase 30 new shower stall inserts made of stainless steel that would not allow mold to grow; two water stations; five A/C units; a new door lock controller; and a maintenance shop.

Little discussion followed Roberts' explanation, and JPs unanimously approved the ordinance.

"I will say this: I've got three years, eight months and 10 days, and I will not be back to ask you for something like this again," Roberts said.

The jail last saw improvements in 2019, when cost saving updates to the facility's HVAC and plumbing systems, renovations to a part of the jail's kitchen that had been damaged by fire and new technology was added.

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