Published: October 06, 2009 07:39 am      

Jail again tops county discussion

Woodward County Sheriff Gary Stanley has only one response to a notice of violation at the county jail for overcrowding.

“We’re building a new jail,” he said.

That was how he responded this summer to an overcrowding notice from the state health department.

It is also how he is responding to the latest health department notice that was presented to him last week, after a recent health department inspection found the jail capacity at 17 inmates over the 41-inmate limit.

This latest violation notice, Stanley's response to it and his continuing battle with overcrowding at the aging jail were some of the top agenda topics Monday during the Woodward County Commission meeting.

Commissioner Ted Craighead expressed concerns that the health department might not accept the same explanation twice and could potentially levy large fines on the county for being in violation.

However, Stanley said, “I don’t anticipate (the health department) would assess us any fines, because they know you can’t build a new jail in two weeks.”

The new jail, which should be completed in the next three years, will have about 125 beds. It is estimated to cost $10 million and is being paid for through an increase in the sales tax.

The sales tax increase is expected to go into effect Jan. 1, 2010.

In the meantime, “we are working to house inmates in other county facilities to correct overcrowding,” Stanley said.

However, there are limits to how many inmates other counties can house as well. In fact, the sheriff explained that Woodward's jail had been overcrowded during the health department’s inspection because the jails in Custer and Harper counties couldn’t house any more from Woodward County.

The Woodward County Jail was also written up for a faucet that didn’t work, but a plumber has already repaired it, Stanley said.

In other business, the county commission applied to the Federal Highway Administration for federal emergency relief funds for highway projects completed in 2007 in County District No. 1.

County commissioners said they expected to be reimbursed a total of $51,229 for the two projects, which included resurfacing a road north of Alabaster Caverns and repairing a bridge along the Cedardale blacktop that had been washed out.

Before adjourning, the commission also approved a permit for AT&T to plow and bore fiber optics cable in District No. 3.

The project will begin south of Hanks Trail and 22nd Street and continue south for six miles. It also will include a route involving County Road 198 and County Road 48, which leads to a substation.