HASTINGS, Nebraska (KSNB) – The Adams County Justice Center is officially accepting inmates. On Tuesday, August 13, the transfer of 25 inmates from the old jail began, followed by 15 inmates being brought to Adams County from other facilities.
All summer, officers have been training to manage a facility that can house up to 154 inmates, but there is no timetable for when Adams County will house more inmates because inmate populations have not been their biggest challenge.
“The biggest challenge since we opened has been developing some new processes,” said Jail Administrator Mike Doremus. “Because we were attached to the courthouse for so many years, all of our paperwork from the district court, the municipal court and even other sheriff’s department paperwork comes here and goes back there.”
Doremus said trying to create a smooth paperwork flow is a major hurdle. Even though housing inmates from other districts is part of the plan, Doremus wants to make sure everything works properly. After that, the two sides will have to come to an agreement.
“We have to set the fees we charge the county to house the inmates based on their needs,” Doremus said. “Do they have more medical needs? Or do they just not have any problems or anything like that. The more needs an inmate has, the more we would probably charge to house the inmate here. And we have to set a process for each county.”
Doremus said they have to discuss where an inmate should be placed if he causes problems at the Adams County Justice Center. One reason there is no timeline for placing inmates from other counties is because the jail wants to hire more staff.
Doremus said the current staffing levels probably wouldn’t be able to accommodate many inmates from other counties.
“I think with our current staffing levels, we would keep it at about 50 inmates,” Doremus said. “That way, we have a sufficient inmate-to-staff ratio so we can make sure we can continue to provide them with the care they need and maintain the safety of the facility.”
Although getting to know the facility has made a big difference for employees, there is one part they like.
“Just interacting with the inmates or prisoners,” said Officer Taylor Hancock. “Before, we had the interaction through the bars. It felt weird, now that we actually have the one-on-one interaction with them, it makes our job a lot easier.”
Hancock said it helps inmates see officers behind their badges. There are also plans to expand the facility to include its own nursing home.
“So we’ve had discussions internally about whether we can contract with a medical group, a doctor or a nurse to come in maybe two to three times a week and visit our inmates. But this is still relatively new,” Doremus said. “Our facility was built for this purpose, to have a nurses’ station, an exam room and things like that.”
Even though everything is still in the planning phase, officials are impressed with the structure of the new facility.
“Having the bathrooms actually work is a big plus,” Hancock said. “The way the facility is set up is that way. In our old facility, we had the inmates over here. It’s nice to have them all in one area. You can see them all at once without having to walk through the facility.”
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