A 70,000-square-foot, 117-bed jail is most likely to be needed for the county’s new law enforcement center, according to a recently completed county assessment study.

Saturday, December 01, 2001

A 70,000-square-foot, 117-bed jail is most likely to be needed for the county’s new law enforcement center, according to a recently completed county assessment study. The proposal will have a significant effect on the course of the new courthouse argument.

The study by BKV group, an engineering firm in Minneapolis, is the first step in defining the shape of a future law enforcement center. The space needs differ depending on the projection of the future inmate population and the level of jail staffing. But the research forecasts that 70,000 square feet, more than double the current facility space, is the most plausible number the county should seek.

The proposal involves the jail and sheriff’s office space. If the Albert Lea Police Department stays together with the sheriff’s office, it will add 5,370 square feet to the facility.

Ted E. Redmond, BKV Project Manager, drew the conclusion by considering an inmate population projection, jail staff efficiency and sheriff’s office operational needs.

Inmate population

The 117-bed size derives from an anticipated inmate population in 2020.

From observation of trends in the last 20 years, Redmond forecasts there will be 88 inmates in 2020: 76 male, 10 female, and two juveniles.

The bed figure is adjusted in accordance with the Minnesota Department of Corrections guideline that recommends a jail occupancy rate to be around 70 percent.

The current jail has a maximum 42-person daily capacity. While the population in the county has slightly decreased in the past 20 years, the inmates have constantly increased. The average occupancy rate this year by September was 98.7 percent, which by far exceeds the state guideline.

The congestion resulted in mounting backlogs for offenders to serve time in the jail. According to Sheriff Don Nolander, currently the waiting list counts 45.

Redmond’s model is based on a scenario that the new jail will absorb around half of the future backlogs.

Jail staffing

The study anticipates the current jail staff of 15 needs to be increased to 24.

The number derives from the state guideline for staff-inmate ratio for each type of detention category.

In addition to the overall bed increase, the new jail would facilitate 10 processing beds where new inmates are placed for observation and eight special management beds that consist of beds for administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation and infectious disease.

The general inmate capacity would increase from the current 20 to 47, and dormitory space for the work-release program inmates would expand to 50 from 22.

Sheriff’s office

The sheriff’s office assessment is based on information gathered from officials and employees through interviews and questionnaires, and current architectural standards for space utilization.

A major addition to the current design is garage space.

The report says that a current trend in justice facilities is to include enclosed squad garage space for all squad cars. The vehicle equipment continues to be more sophisticated including sensitive equipment such as onboard video cameras and computers, increasing the need for indoor storage.

The plan shows a new indoor 5,299 square-foot squad garage and a separated sally port for four vehicles.

Owen Boarman of BKV said the firm would proceed to the next step to make blueprints for the new facility based on the needs assessment.

Boarman suggests the needs study provides the county three directions to go.

One is to build on a new site away from the current location. Two is to rebuild on the current site by utilizing the parking space and by incorporating the LEC plan with one of the courthouse renovation schemes. And three is to expand the courthouse site to the south by demolishing the Western Grocery building.

The firm would complete the next phase of the study by mid-January, Boarman said.