With Tom on vacation this week we’ll have time for some extended interviews on the afternoon show, and we started the week talking about jails.
Click to hear WTAW’s Chris Clift talk with Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk:
The discussion starts with an overview of the Brazos County Jail being announced as back in compliance on Friday.
The majority of the conversation deals with the current $55 million jail expansion and changing philosophy.
Currently Brazos County has the capacity for less than 600 inmates, but that number is going to more than double when the expansion is complete.
Kirk says they should be using the new facilities sometime in late 2010.
Right now Brazos County has to house prisoners in other counties at a cost of $38 – $42 per day, not to mention the expense associated with transporting them back and forth for court dates.
Part of the new facility will be dedicated to direct supervision, meaning a more dormitory style arrangement with guards interacting with inmates in the same room and not from behind bars.
Kirk says his staff studied this arrangement at other jails and employees voted to implement the new procedures.
Direct supervision also brings about cost savings because the inmates can move themselves to things like meals, recreation and visits.