Jail grand opening set for July 3
The parish’s $9.4 million regional consolidated Jail facility will open its doors next week and begin taking parish prisoners on a trial basis.
A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, at the new facility, which is located at 1704 US 90 West in Jennings.
Construction began in 2016 and was originally planned to be completed within 18 months, however, weather and other delays pushed that date to July 9, when Police Jury President Donald Woods says they will begin moving in prisoners on a trial basis.
The cost to to purchase the 17.5-acre property was $272,320 and to build the facility was around $9.4 million. The parish received $10 million in state capital outlay funds to cover the cost with no matching funds required by the parish.
A tax was approved by a majority of voters May 3, 2014. The 10-year, half-cent sales tax was put into place to cover yearly operations and maintenance costs for the new jail and brings in around $2.1 million annually.
The facility includes a central control room, separate recreation yards for male and female inmates, isolation cells and a vehicular sally port. It is two-thirds larger than the current parish jail and will have 200 beds versus the current facility, which houses 64 inmates.
The parish currently pays $50,000 a month to Concordia Parish to house nearly 100 inmates for Jeff Davis. Each prisoner costs the parish $24.50 per day and there are currently around 100 prisoners being housed outside of the parish, according to the Jeff Davis Sheriff’s Office.
On top of more space, a two-way video system will provide video visitation where an inmate can communicate through a television while his or her visitor is located in another room in the facility. The video system is expected to save time and money by eliminating the need for background checks of visitors with felony convictions, according to officials. The same technology could also be used to implement a “telecourt” where prisoners waiting on arraignment would be lined up on certain days of the week and brought before a two-way video setup to enter pleas, cutting down on transport costs and increasing safety.
The current jail at the courthouse will be still be utilized in many capacities, including using the some of the holding cells for those who are expected to appear in court instead of allowing them to sit in the jury box or in hallways.