WISCONSIN RAPIDS − Just over two years after crews broke flooring on the model new Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail, the locks are on the cell doorways, elevators are operational, furnishings is being positioned and laptop computer wires are being linked as the highest of constructing nears.
The transition group has begun to educate inside the new establishing, Wood County Jail Administrator Lt. Ted Ashbeck talked about.
Ashbeck and Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker anticipate starting the switch into the model new establishing sometime in February, after the workers is totally educated on the procedures inside the new facility.
Once the Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail are completely moved out of the earlier establishing, work on razing the earlier jail can begin sometime in 2025. Becker talked about he didn’t know exactly when which will happen.
People who need to get a look contained in the model new facility firsthand are invited to attend an open dwelling on Dec. 17 immediately following the Wood County Board meeting, which begins at 9:30 a.m., Becker talked about.
Jail constructing is beneath funds and ahead of schedule
Laura Valenstein, chairwoman of the Wood County Jail Construction Adhoc Committee, talked about constructing has gone terribly properly. The constructing is beneath funds and ahead of schedule, she talked about. Samuels Group of Wausau, the event agency establishing the jail, has been simple to work with, Valenstein talked about.
“They’ve done a great job,” she talked about. “They’ve been extremely receptive to feedback and a few things we wanted to change along the way.”
Becker, Ashbeck, Facilities Manager Reuben Van Tassel and sheriff’s office workers have achieved an important job staying up to speed with the jail enterprise, Valenstein talked about. It was Valenstein’s first time being the chairwoman of such a giant enterprise they normally made it simple, she talked about.
“I get to watch from the outside while the team deals with the nitty gritty,” Valenstein talked about.
Becker talked about he’s cherished working with Valenstein and Van Tassel in the middle of the enterprise, which broke flooring in October 2022. The Samuels Group has been good about making wished changes as they’ve been dropped at their consideration and preserving the enterprise inside its $98 million funds.
Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker leads a tour by means of the model new Wood County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, as a result of it nears completion in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
New facility will improve safety and alternate options
The new jail may have many new choices that improve safety for every inmates and workers along with elevated alternate options for teaching and inmate programming.
The new jail has video conference rooms positioned all by means of the flexibility. Currently, corrections officers ship inmates to the one conference room inside the jail. The inmates wait exterior the room for his or her turns to make courtroom appearances. It’s a system that doesn’t work properly, Becker talked about. The numerous video conference rooms will prohibit how far inmates have to be moved for his or her courtroom appearances. There can be one conference room that may allow a defendant’s authorized skilled to be inside the jail with the inmate, instead of inside the courtroom.
Some of the changes inside the new jail Becker likes best are these that may allow for elevated programming to help inmates. The current jail’s one small conference room moreover serves as a result of the library. Having numerous conference rooms inside the new jail will even allow for further conferences and training, Becker talked about.
The experience with COVID-19 had the jail’s designers and workers enthusiastic about what elements the model new jail wished to protect inmates’ nicely being. There are cells designated for inmates who’re sick. The area incorporates an examination room for nurses to see inmates with medical points. The workers might be able to segregate sick inmates from the general jail inhabitants, Becker talked about.
The jail moreover has a padded cell for inmates who’re experiencing psychological nicely being factors, Becker talked about. The cell is designed to keep up an inmate who’s violent from hurting themselves.
Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker leads a tour by means of the model new Wood County Jail on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, as a result of it nears completion in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.
The new jail kitchen can be designed to allow inmates to educate on working in expert kitchens, Becker talked about. He hopes to work with Mid-State Technical College to create a program inmates can bear to alter into educated for restaurant work.
“Mid-State has been a very good partner for a lot of our jail programs,” Becker talked about.
The new providers moreover give Wood County Sheriff’s Office workers further proof room, larger work areas to write down down research and meet, further locker room home and a model new train room.
Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @OkayMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.fb.com/karen.madden.33.
This article initially appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: New Wood County Jail will in all probability be accomplished rapidly
