by Laura Adelmann
Thisweek newspapers

Construction workers have become frequent visitors in the Dakota County Jail's administrative offices.

Cmdr. Blair Anderson exchanges familiar greetings with two workers as they inform him his phone will be temporarily out -- again.

With about one month on the job, Anderson takes the inconveniences that come with the $10.3 million jail addition and remodeling project in stride.

He cracks a joke then mentions to a visitor that since the expanded intake/release desk opened Oct. 24 prisoner management systems have greatly improved.

Prior to the addition, the jail's intake and release area was chaotic; it was a struggle to keep prisoners leaving separated from those coming in.

Harried workers struggled to process those in custody, track their files and maintain the regular schedule of floor-walking to keep watch on the jail inmates.

Those who were waiting for processing into or out of the jail often crowded several rooms and lined the hallway area around the desk, and some corrections officers had raised security concerns.

Now at the jail's larger intake area, people still wait for processing, but the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

A few people waiting to be booked into jail -- those who are calm and pose no risk -- sit in an area that resembles a no-frills physician's waiting room.

But most of the people waiting for paperwork and procedures are held in rooms with walls of shatter-proof plastic glass windows so corrections staff can maintain oversight.

The unit's opening day, Anderson said, was an exercise in figuring out how to use the new space efficiently.

Prior to the intake area's official opening, key jail workers were trained on the new control panel operations and reviewed intake/release procedures in every conceivable situation, according to Anderson.

He said he is pleased with how the new space is accommodating jail operations.

"More than anything, the environment has become rather calm. That is how it is intended to be, and the design helps facilitate that," said Anderson. "Everything from the hues on the walls, the soft tones … everything has a purpose down to that final detail."

Jail population levels remain high, according to Sheriff Don Gudmundson, who in November reported the jail's daily average at 267 inmates; with 66 inmates housed at other jails due to the construction.

Operations are expected to improve further by Jan. 1, when Anderson said he expects to have hired booking specialists who will be responsible for processing inmates in and out of jail.

Interviews will take place this week, and finalists will go through an extensive hiring process, which includes a thorough background check.

The addition of these positions will free up correctional staff to provide supervision of the growing number of inmates, who Anderson said are getting more violent.

"We're getting too big, so we need to use our people more effectively," said Anderson. "Computer work used to be just another facet of the job, but with the nature of our inmates changing, becoming more violent, and with the sheer number of inmates growing so drastically in the last three to five years, that's time they could be using to supervise inmates to make sure this place is as safe as it can be."

Phase two of the construction, which adds 20 beds and includes a larger kitchen is expected to be completed by March.

According to Lt. Lawrence Hart, there are plans to add onto the jail, creating an additional 100 beds within five to seven years.

Laura Adelmann is at dceditor@frontiernet.net.