County prison, staff recognized
The prison and its staff were recognized Wednesday, May 10, by the county commissioners.
The commissioners approved a proclamation in honor of Corrections Employee Week and presented it to prison staff during the commissioners’ meeting.
“It takes a special breed of person to do what we do inside the walls,” Warden Joe DeMore said.
Sheriff Mike Slupe, who also serves as chairman of the prison board, said that prison staff work under stressful conditions to provide safety for the public and inmates and reduce future crime.
He said the state Department of Corrections recently completed its biennial inspection of the county prison and found it to be in full compliance with all regulations. Slupe said it was the fifth consecutive inspection that found the prison to be in full compliance, which means it has met the standards for 10 consecutive years.
DeMore said a barbecue and other special meals are being prepared for staff this week.
The prison has a capacity of 512 inmates, but had 420 at the time of the March 29 inspection. Of those inmates, 355 were male and 65 were female. The prison houses pretrial detainees and convicted inmates serving maximum sentences of less than five years.
The inspection looks at conditions of confinement/quality of life, personnel, admission and release processes, inmate orientation, inmate rules and staff procedures, inmate classification, housing conditions, inmate clothing and bedding, food service, inmate hygiene, medical services, visiting policy, telephone and mail policies, work programs, access to legal services, religious programming, recreation, commissary funds, inmate discipline, security, population and incident reporting, treatment services, deaths and sexual assaults, and sanitation and maintenance, and includes interviews with staff.
