Meeting will determine what’s required to reopen Adams Co. Jail

RITZVILLE — What it will take to reopen the Adams County Jail, and how to make plans for the jail’s future, was the subject of an hour-long discussion at the Adams County Commission meeting Tuesday.

“We need to start coming up with an actual game plan to address what we currently have, and what we’re going to do going forward,” Wagner said. “And it needs to be faster than slower.”

The jail was closed and has been the subject of continuing discussions among the commissioners and Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner. Wagner said the jail actually has been a subject of discussion between different commissioners and three different sheriffs for over a decade, and it needs attention now.

Wagner estimated that it will take about a year to reopen once county officials decide what they want to do, mainly due to the time needed to train new corrections staff.

Currently, prisoners that need to be jailed are transported to other jails in the region, Wagner said. He estimated that costs the county at least $20,000 per month.

Commissioner Dan Blakenship said the jail and the issues around it need to be addressed.

“I agree, this has been a slow rollout emergency for a long time,” Blankenship said “And we have just had meetings like this and talked about it. You’re right - a plan is what we need.”

Currently, the county has funding for a nine-person corrections staff, and Wagner said that’s not enough anymore. He said the county should double that to ensure two corrections officers are working in the jail most of the time.

“We can’t do that on one man working the jail anymore,” he said. “The crimes are different, the violence is different, the drugs are different, the people are different, the entire system is different.”

In addition, Wagner said there are some repairs and updates that should be done, for the health and safety of both staff and inmates, and to make the job of corrections officer more attractive to potential employees. His list included repainting the facility and applying an antibacterial substance to both walls and floors, replacing the existing floors and removing ceramic tile in areas where it’s installed.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to convert some of the cells into negative pressure rooms, he said. County health officials also wanted to house a tuberculosis patient in the jail, another circumstance that would require a negative pressure room.

The heating-cooling system needs either repairs or replacement, he said. Commissioner Jay Wiese said the county has replaced at least a section of the heating-cooling system, but Wagner said that hasn’t solved the HV/AC problems.

“Right now we have cells over here that are freezing cold,” he said. “On the other end of the building, they’re hot.”

The roof is in poor repair and Wiese said that’s being addressed this year.

The jail was closed after an incident in May 2022 where a prisoner was severely beaten by another prisoner, who also attacked the corrections officer working that day. Wagner said six of the corrections staff have quit, some immediately after the incident, others more recently. He asked commissioners to advertise the open positions throughout the region, rather than just locally.

Adams County Prosecutor Randy Flyckt said there’s both a short-term problem and a long-term problem. The short-term problem is to get the jail back open as quickly as possible, he said; the longer-term problem is to figure out what the facility will need to keep operating in the future.

“The more immediate concern is, we need to have that place open and running,” Flyckt said.

Some of the repairs and updates Wagner has suggested would take more time, he said.

“The county can’t continue to operate this way,” Flyckt said. “We need to do long-term planning and one thing that I’ve seen historically is, we never get serious about it. We’re not planning for the future. So we deal with things in a reactionary, emergency manner when they pop up. We need to stop doing that. But in the interim, what we need to do is develop a basic checklist of what it’s going to take this system up and running.”

Flyckt suggested a meeting between himself, Wagner, Adams County Commissioner Mike Garza and a representative from the District or Superior courts to determine what’s needed immediately to get the jail back in operation. For the longer term, Flyckt said there is a mechanism that could, and in his opinion should, be revived.

“We do have a county law and justice committee, that hasn’t met for years, that is supposed to make recommendations to the county’s legislative authority, as well as the city and town councils, on future criminal justice-related needs, and I would highly recommend that efforts be made to get that up and running again,” Flyckt said.

Wagner said he was invited by Ninth District Senator Mark Schoelser to submit a request for funding through the capital budget. He requested $1 million, he said, but didn’t include many details because he wasn’t sure what the projects would cost.

“That’s why I asked for $1 million - I don’t know, a million dollars might get us far,” Wagner said.

The commissioners also have been asked by state legislators to submit requests for capital budget items, Blankenship said, but in his opinion should wait to ask for any money for the jail until they have more details.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.