OBERLIN, La. (AP) - Weather delays and other issues are pushing back at least a month the opening of the new jail in Allen Parish.
Sheriff Doug Hebert III told the American Press (https://bit.ly/1O6ClnP) that construction on the $8.3 million, 40,000-square-foot jail is about 90 percent complete. He said it should be completed in May. The previous completion date was March.
“Clearly it is not happening as fast as we had hoped, but really it’s no one’s fault,” Hebert said. “Mother Nature has not been kind to us. But one of these days it is going to be finished.
“It’s almost like waiting for Christmas to get here. Everyone is ready.”
Work remaining includes completion of ceiling and floor work, installation of inmate bunk beds and kitchen appliances along with an outdoor perimeter fence and security system.
Administrative offices and personnel will be the first to move into the new jail.
Herbert said inmates will move in two weeks to 30 days later.
The jail will hold 199 inmates - both men and women, including 179 classified as “general population” inmates. It includes female dorms for 16 women and three dorms to hold 100 male inmates. Plans are to include a second female dorm in the future, increasing the female inmate capacity to 32.
Herbert said four video visitation stations for family and court appearances will be located in the front lobby. There will be a separate lockdown for at-risk inmates, three isolated cells for sick inmates, and a suicide watch cell.
A central control center with eight monitors will allow officers to have a clear view of inmates at all times, including those in lockdown.
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Information from: American Press, https://www.americanpress.com
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