MONROE — As a new high school rises from the rolling hills not far away on Monroe’s northeast edge, there is more construction in the works for that part of town, as county officials finalize plans to replace its aging jail facility with a new jail, in the shadow of the old one.
The county board, at its June 10 regular meeting, approved issuing more than $86 million in general obligation bonds to fund and equip a jail to replace the modest brick structure that dates to 1958, with a remodel in 1981; and still has antiquated security features, cells with steel bars, and skeleton-type keys to control access.
In local law enforcement circles, the need for a new jail and adjacent law enforcement center, has been common knowledge for years, officials note.
“They need a new building,” said New Glarus Police Chief Jeff Sturdevant, whose department, like others in the county, is an end-user of the facility and transports prisoners to Green County Jail. “It should have been done a long time ago.”
When it opens in a few years — an exact time frame has not been given — the new jail will be on land adjacent to the existing jail and justice center. The modern jail would be able to hold 94 prisoners right away, with eventual capacity for 124. (The current jail maximum is about 70 inmates)
And that’s not a moment too soon, considering several key statistics showing increased demand for jail beds — including that the average length of a jail stay in Green County jail increased from 41 days to 61 days between the years of 2021 and 2024 alone.
The new jail would be the county’s first completely new building — except for the Justice Center building — since the 1960s, officials said. The jail/sheriff’s office updates also are critical because they involve a key component of the local first-responder network — the county 911 center, which currently dispatches all emergency communications except for Monroe.
Now retired Sheriff Jeff Skatrud worked closely with the county board on planning the unique space requirements of the jail and a law enforcement center. Among other benefits, the new facility will likely include space for a dedicated County Coroner’s office, something that officials say is needed; and better meeting spaces for larger work teams of officers and officials.
“I’m really pleased that the county is moving forward,” Skatrud has said of seeing the project come to fruition.
On a recent day outside the jail, a hot-dome sun baked the parking lot. Inside, while the aging AC units struggled to keep up — they are rarely any match for the way the humidity hangings around in the old jail, clinging to concrete and steel.
“It will be cool in there, but it will be muggy,” said Green County Sheriff Cody Kanable.
And inefficient, he said, adding that one or two service calls a week is not uncommon for the cobbled-together HVAC system at the jail. Photos show molding, cracking tiles and pipes strung through tight spaces ad hoc, making do with what little space there was to expand the old jail. The kitchen is dated, and cramped.
Beyond space, is the primary issue of safety — for inmates and correctional officers. Certain amounts of square feet are required to house certain types of inmates. For example, according to Kanable, female inmates are being housed in Iowa County again — at considerable cost to the county — not because of a lack of female correctional staff but because of lack of square feet dedicated to female inmates.
Moreover, with all inmates, without the centralized control and access offered by a modern jail, staff must spend more time moving and monitoring inmates, shutting, and locking doors and communicating with each other.
“Safety is the most important thing,” said Kanable, who, in his first term, is shepherding the jail project started by his predecessor across the finish line.
The new jail will feature and improved tunnel connecting it to the courthouse so prisoners can be safely and securely shuttled back and forth. That feature alone accounts for nearly $1 million of the total cost of the project, which also includes a parking deck, mezzanine, and a more than 36,000-square-foot law enforcement center.
Even something as seemingly routine as the jail sallyport can be a big deal for officers bringing prisoners in from all parts of the county for booking. As it now stands, it is a tight fit for multiple squads.
“A bigger space would be much better,” said Sturdevant. “You can barely get out of your vehicle,” sometimes while unloading prisoners.
What’s more, Skatrud often emphasized that much of the 911 center’s technology is not only out of date, but in some cases unavailable. There are also issues at the jail with a leaky roof and woefully outdated plumbing — to the extent Kanable said he has had to replace dozens of special plumbing valves in jail cells that keep breaking to the tune of $1,500 to $2,000 each.
Small details like adequate locker rooms can detract from job satisfaction — currently, for example, officials said half the deputy lockers are in the basement and half in a garage, neither of which has much privacy.
It is a quite a contrast to what it must be like recruiting new officers and deputies in Rock County, with its new, state-of-the-art jail.
Kanable and other county officials also emphasize that a new jail facility and sheriff’s office would go a long way to help with the county’s ongoing efforts to recruit jail and road deputies. State and nationwide, there is a shortage of recruits for many first-responder posts.
Many in the law enforcement community — and on the county board — are behind the project. County officials also hare trying to find additional funding sources to help offset some of the taxpayer cost of the new jail and LEC.
“It’s just outdated and I have been around for 24 years,” said Sturtevant. “It’s time.”