Grant Co. Jail project moving quickly

EPHRATA — The New Grant County Jail is progressing rapidly according to Tom Gaines, the Grant County central services director. He provided updates on the new Grant County Jail during the County Commissioners meeting Monday, with further discussion Tuesday. 

The update included that construction was going well, with 50 workers onsite handling various tasks such as concrete work, electrical installations and plumbing daily. Vertical walls were set to be built soon and the jail was on track for completion in the spring of 2026.

Gaines said the current Grant County Jail housed 135 inmates Tuesday, and the new facility would be able to accommodate most of them in a single pod once completed. He detailed the progress on different pod zones, highlighting key milestones such as plumbing and electrical work, installation of blocks and concrete slabs and work on the exterior walls. He praised the construction crew for their progress.

“They are actually moving very quickly,” Gaines said. 

Aside from construction progress, updates were provided on essential infrastructure work. Sewer, water and reclaim piping have been taken across Dodson Road and tied into the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Water and sewer connections are nearly completed up to SR 282, with the base course for the extension of Nat Washington Way set to begin in early August. The footings, foundations, plumbing and electrical work for the 256-bed pod in zone one have been completed and other zones are also progressing.

The sheriff's office has begun a transition course with the National Institute of Corrections that should help ensure a smooth transition when we move from one building to another. The discussion about furniture, fixtures and equipment has also begun. 

Gaines said they have been proactive in planning for essential items like blankets, linen, and uniforms for the new facility and have planned to utilize social media platforms like Facebook for outreach to keep the community informed. 

As of Tuesday, they have spent $10.9 million this year. The total of the projects from inception has been $13.5 million. The transition team also finalized their mission statement and philosophy statement as they get started preparing to move jail operations from the current facility to the new one. The team wanted to ensure that they reflected not only the inmate population but also the staff. 

 “Our dedicated team of professionals are committed to public safety by effectively managing the facility while maintaining close collaboration with our partnering agencies and the community,” reads the mission statement. 

Although there is still a lot of progress to be made on the transition, including training, creating a program on mental health for the jail and figuring out the logistics of the court system, Gaines said that it is going “fairly well.” 

“I did not know what the complexity of what the transition was gonna look like,” Gaines said. “We are all gonna fail at something at one point or another but we will try to make this transition as smooth as we possibly can.”

Gaines also spoke about the jail briefly in the commissioners' meeting Monday. He said he was concerned with a lack of communication on various aspects of the project and how things would operate in a facility detached from the courthouse. However, a Grant County Sheriff’s Office representative has recently been assigned to work with the new jail team to facilitate that communication. 

Gaines received an email from a gentleman who would like to discuss the potential of using the old jail as a new morgue and said he would be in correspondence with the resident who made the suggestion. No updates were discussed in Tuesday’s meeting on what the old jail will be used for though. 

Nance Beston may be reached at nbeston@columbiabasinherald.com.