County finds certifying $6.5M jail a headache

According to county officials, the new Warren County Jail may not be certified unless at least eight new employees are added at the facility, which the state says is currently understaffed.

The Safety Committee met Tuesday to determine what the county can do to meet the requirements, but talks were hampered by the fact state officials have not provided any definite information so far as to what it will take to satisfy state inspectors.

One thing officials are sure of is that hiring even the minimum number of new employees would result in a substantial increase in the jail budget for next year.

?If we hire eight people at that jail, you?re talking about close to eight cents of property tax by the time you pay their insurance and benefits,? said Safety Committee chairman David Grissom. ?I do want to make you aware of this and you can be thinking about it because it?s going to be right around the corner we?re going to have to make a decision on it.?

Grissom mentioned that at earlier meetings some state officials had indicated the county might be able to meet requirements with the current staffing.

?I?ve heard them say that we could operate it like that. But that?s not the story now. So I did ask Jackie what it would take to get this thing certified,? said Grissom referring to Sheriff Jackie Matheny.

?He thinks it?s going to take at least eight employees to get certification,? Grissom continued. ?We?ve spent $6.5 million and we?re eight people away from having certification.?

Though state certification is not required, it can prove beneficial should the county experience a lawsuit, since it provides verification the facility meets all state requirements.

Matheny said state officials have been cooperative during the jail project.

?They?ve always been good to us,? Matheny said, ?and willing to do whatever they could to help us.?

But Matheny said he was getting mixed messages as to what would constitute adequate staffing, which seems to change from meeting to meeting.

?They told us in one meeting we needed 32 people,? Matheny said.

?Then one time it was 17,? said Grissom.

?It?s confusing,? said Matheny. ?What I?m saying is if we get eight people, who really knows what they?re going to say when we?re inspected, whether that?s enough. And I?m not being critical here. They?ve been really good to work with.?

Grissom asked Matheny to contact the state and try to get some definite figures, but Matheny pointed out he had been in contact with the state, and received a wide range of opinions, finally settling on requesting eight employees, though he couldn?t be sure that would be sufficient.

Matheny said state officials had informed him they would have to make an inspection with the employees in place at the jail before they could make a judgment, and were therefore reluctant to make a commitment as to a set number of personnel prior to that inspection.

The situation leaves commissioners frustrated.

?Nobody seems to be willing to tell us what we have to have to get this jail certified,? Grissom said. ?But we?ve spent a lot of money out there, and we need to get it certified.?

The Safety Committee eventually decided to present plans to hire the suggested eight employees during budget talks and deal with hiring more later if the state deemed it necessary after inspection.