The expanded Anderson County Detention Facility, which has a renovated front entrance, is pictured above in Clinton.
Information from WYSH Radio
Members of the Anderson County Alternatives to Incarceration Committee have been given a tour of the soon-to-be-completed addition to the Anderson County Jail. The expansion is expected to open within the next month or so.
Officials said that when the new maximum-security pod opens, it will give them the ability to properly segregate prisoners as required by state law. The expansion, along with a 128-bed minimum-security dormitory, is expected to meet the county’s needs for the next decade.
The project cost just under $10.7 million and included renovations to the existing jail. Some of those improvements include a new video visitation area and a larger training room for deputies.
The 212-bed expansion of the Anderson County jail includes six two-story cell pods with a central control tower.
The jail addition itself features six two-story cell pods with a central control tower in the middle that will allow jailers to be able to see all of the cells at the same time. Officials said there will be four jailers on duty 24 hours a day in the new pod.
With the 128 minimum-security beds and 212 maximum-security beds, the jail’s capacity increases to 564 inmates. Currently, it is certified for 224 inmates, but is is routinely overcrowded, which led to the state threatening to decertify the jail and prompted local officials to move forward on the project.
Information in this story brought to you through an agreement between Oak Ridge Today and WYSH. See more local news headlines on the WYSH website at http://www.wyshradio.com/local_news.html.
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