Local Video
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| Rice County inmates must leave state prison by the end of 2010 |
By: JIM HAMMERAND, Staff Writer
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Posted: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 12:11 am
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The Rice County Jail will need to house its lowest risk inmates elsewhere in 2010.
That’s when a long-standing lease for county beds at the Faribault state prison is set to expire, news that Sheriff Richard Cook said surprised county officials.
Now, the county is considering repurposing a federal building on Hwy. 60 for inmate living, and have informally discussed other sites, including an industrial property in Northfield.
The Minnesota Department of Administration first notified the county in October that the two-story Pawnee Building just outside the prison’s fenced perimeter would no longer be available to house the county’s minimum-security inmates. Rice County got an extension, and now has until Dec. 31, 2010, to move the inmates out.
Cook said the soon-to-be-vacated Army Reserve Center at 2119 Hwy. 60 W. is the primary choice. The federal government is expected to transfer the fenced-in office and classroom building to local public ownership at no cost, Cook said, and the building is well constructed for long-lasting security. It would also be about the same distance to the courthouse and Law Enforcement Center as the prison.
Officials have also discussed the 40-year-old former Ryt-way building at 1407 Armstrong Road, Cook said, but have not visited the property.
State Department of Corrections spokeswoman Shari Burt said there are no plans for Pawnee, but that the state is not likely to upgrade it for the same reasons that Rice County is being asked to leave.
“The building is not in the best of shape. We don’t feel that continued use of the building should occur,” she said.
The inmates, who are generally serving less than a year for sub-felony convictions on work release or community service, are considered “the lowest of the low risk,” Cook said.
“They’re actually the people who are out in our community either working or doing community service on a daily basis, so it’s not the typical prisoner who’s behind bars,” Cook said.
The county has kept inmates in the 36-bed building — another 12 are unused on the second floor — since 1994 and elsewhere on prison property since 1989, Cook said. The last walk-off from the annex occurred in August 2005, when two inmates activated a fire alarm and fled custody.
Robert Wendler, a reserve base transition coordinator at Ft. Snelling, said units will move out of the Hwy. 60 building and into the new Armed Forces Reserve Center next to the airport as soon as late winter. He recently met with Rice County officials about the building’s reuse.
“Certainly we’re very much interested in the future of the Faribault area and if this is a vehicle by which we can contribute to Rice County or Faribault, that’s just great by us,” Wendler said.
— Jim Hammerand covers the city. He can be reached at jhammerand@northfieldnews.com or 645-1114. |
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The old Army Reserve center in Faribault would be the ideal place for the sheriff to obtain. No tax dollars exchanging hands.
The sheriff needs a new jail and hopefully the county board will build him one in RICE county and won't go into an agreement with any other counties.