Design
The facility, contained within 18 acres of a 150-acre parcel by a motion detected security fence, is a direct supervision, campus style design. It consists of seven buildings totaling 172,249 square feet. The buildings are designed for the following functions:
- Administration
- Food Service, Laundry and Industries
- Maintenance and Supply Warehouse
- Programs
- Female Housing, Medical Services, Intake/Release and Special Management Housing
- Minimum Custody Male Housing
- Medium Custody Male Housing
The design of the facility is such that no service is brought to the inmate. All movement is accomplished outdoors under the supervision of Detention Officers stationed in key locations. Walking outdoors in all kinds of weather reflects life outside the jail, where meeting needs and securing services are often challenged by the elements.
Aided by a rigid master schedule which establishes a time for each activity, the inmate is responsible for moving to each location for activities or services in an orderly manner at the appointed time. Staff do not announce services or activities, but consistently follow the master schedule to ensure all activities and services occur at the correct time.
In this campus style environment, inmates are responsible for moving to a dining hall for meals and to other designated areas for other services. For example, mailboxes for personal and institutional mail are located outside the dining halls. As inmates enter the dining hall, they are able to place institutional communications such as grievances, requests for information, medical requests, and commissary order forms, in mailboxes designated for institutional services. Inmates place their outgoing U.S. mail in designated postal boxes.
When returning from the lunch meal, inmates are responsible for collecting correspondence from their individual mailbox. This system has produced substantial staff efficiencies. Only one staff member is assigned part time to the mail post, leaving time free to be assigned to other duties as required. This simple design decision allows staff to be free of routine duties and lets them step outside of the traditional role of mail officer. At the same time it places the responsibility of correspondence on the person who wants the service - the inmate.
Inmates are required to report to the laundry area for exchange of clean clothes and bedding at designated times. Staff members do not exchange laundry on behalf of an inmate. Laundry carts are not lugged around the facility. If the inmate wants clean clothes and linen, he must take the responsibility of going to the place which provides the service. Laundry staff actually spend very little time at the transaction window exchanging clean items for soiled. One staff member manages the laundry section and spends most of his time supervising and instructing inmate workers in the washing, drying and folding of clothes. This approach allows staff to spend their time working with inmates and supervising their activities rather than supervising the movement of materials. Staff move from the role of service provider to the role of instructor and manager.
The facility has outdoor recreation areas consisting of a baseball field, a soccer area, a walking track, a basketball court, a multipurpose area, and an indoor gym. At the end of the recreation period, but before returning to the housing unit, the inmate is scheduled to walk to the commissary where he collects his purchases. The commissary is not trucked through the facility; the inmate takes the responsibility for obtaining the service. The inmate's responsibility starts when he records his order on a scannable form which he deposits in the commissary mailbox outside the dining hall. He must deposit his form one day in advance of the purchase. No staff member handles his form until the commissary officer retrieves the forms from the mailboxes at the appointed time. Once again, time is saved by not having to pass and collect orders from inmates. As with the laundry operation, the commissary officer manages his store and acts as an instructor for the inmate workers, teaching the inmate proper store maintenance and sales techniques. One staff member operates the commissary, maintains inventory and consolidates transactions.