By Cathy Heng
Bay City Times
MIDLAND, Mich. — Residents of Midland County in Michigan aren’t just getting a new jail.
They’re getting a whole new way of jailing.
“It’s more than state of the art. It is probably the most technically advanced jail in the country today,” said Kevin Beeson, director of facilities for the 103,000-square-foot jail. “We’ve incorporated things no other building has had.”
That includes treatment of inmates, technology, building design, security, safety and discipline, he said.
After more than 20 years of proposals, squabbling over site issues and failed plans, Midland County voters approved a $25 million, 20-year bond proposal to build a jail on 30 acres at Rockwell and Fast Ice drives. Construction started in December 2007, and the building is nearly ready for occupancy
“Commissioners approved the jail, and we wanted a state-of-the-art building,” Sheriff Jerry Nielsen said. “I’ve studied and visited a lot (of facilities) and the ‘podular’ system for a jail impressed me. The last 100 years of simply warehousing prisoners has done no good.”
Prisoners will be housed two to a cell and have access to large pods during the daytime. It appears such an arrangement is good for all, he said.
Prisoners are not confined to six people in a cell, employees enjoy coming to work and the system is behavior-driven, Nielsen said.
“You, me - inmate, supervisor - sit in pods for six hours. We can be civil, without hitting, and reward good behavior with time off. We can work one-on-one with inmates in a buy-in situation,” he said.
The jail is designed for 250 inmates. Midland County expects to house 137 to 142 and rent the remaining spaces, Nielsen said. The present jail has 98 beds, and some 40 inmates are housed outside Midland County.
Another eye-catching feature of the jail is its floor.
As construction began, Beeson was in a big box store and, looking at the floor, realized it had lots of traffic and was in good shape.
He discovered the floor was highly polished, diamond-ground concrete.
“We talked to the architect, who was skeptical, but we convinced them to use concrete for the floors,” Beeson said.
It eliminates scrubbing, waxing and polishing.
“In 10 years, we may need to repolish it, but that saves hours of work and cleaning supplies,” Beeson said.
That led to other innovations. Beeson said the state requires outdoor recreation for prisoners, so most jails have a fenced, outdoor area for fresh air.
“Our jail has a recreation room in each pod. The top of that room, about 25 feet up, has a garage door opening to the outside. It lets in fresh air, meets the law and allows inmates to look out at the sky while no one can see in,” he said. The plan “saves tons in staff time and money by not supervising inmates when moving them in and outside,” Beeson said.
The building is heated and cooled by a geothermal system of nine miles of underground piping.
The system, at 300-feet deep, takes advantage of the earth’s ability to heat and cool the jail.
“While the (geothermal) system cost $1 million extra upfront, the payback is seven or eight years and will save the county money in the long term,” Beeson said.
Large windows at the ceiling bring in outside light. The county expects 32 years of profit in utilities after the eight-year payoff of mechanical, heating and lighting systems, Beeson said.
The whole system is supervised by one central control room, Nielsen said.
“We can lock down all doors at once. Each door has a card reader to check entry and exits. We can control the building by 30 different cameras that zoom in, focus where needed and provide a safe environment,” Nielsen said.
The building also features a portable courtroom, an administrative wing, a clinic area, a kitchen, attorney rooms, a conference room and a classroom.
“There is video visitation with space for 10 visits and no contact with a prisoner. There are handsets where two people can visit. Everything is recorded,” Nielsen said.
“Look for the Spartan cells. People think the jail is lavish, posh or overbuilt because of the $25 million,” Beeson said.
Not true, Beeson and Nielsen said.
“It is safe, secure, and functional. Our aim is to be able to call a lockdown, and within 45 seconds all inmates are in their cells,” Nielsen said.
And, the planners have looked to the future.
“We are able to knock out an area to add up to 400 beds as needed in the future - enough for three generations,” Nielsen said.
All the mechanical and support equipment can handle the expansion, he added.
“Any expansion would be without major remodeling,” Beeson said. “That plan comes from the school of hard knocks. Today’s jail is 50 years old, and we’ve used every square foot of space available - every broom closet.”
Copyright 2009 Bay City Times