Your first look inside the new Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail as construction continues

WISCONSIN RAPIDS − It's been about 1 ⅟₂ years since Wood County broke ground on the new Wood County Sheriff's Office and Jail in October 2022, and the approximately $98 million project is still on time and on budget, according to officials.

Construction of the new county building is on track to be finished in October, Wood County Sheriff Shawn Becker said. The county will then need to go through a jail certification process with the state and give county employees a chance to train in the new facility.

Wood County Jail Administrator Capt. Theodore Ashbeck said he has finished writing the procedures for the new jail and has had them approved by the state. He hopes to be able to get his staff in the new building for training soon after construction is finished in October.

They anticipate opening the new jail in early 2025.

New Wood County Jail will hold 315 inmates

The current jail holds 132 inmates. The new jail will hold 315 inmates, Ashbeck said.

The county has been keeping about 100 or more inmates in other jails for more than a decade, Wood County Chairman Lance Pliml said. The opening of the new jail in early 2025 means all Wood County inmates can stay in the county and can take advantage of new programming that the new, larger jail will be able to offer, Pliml said.

Wood County currently pays $86,588 monthly or $1.04 million annually to house inmates in other counties. With transportation costs, it comes to about $1.3 million, Wood County Chief Deputy Quentin Ellis said. The number has been higher in previous years when the county had more contracted beds.

Once the new jail opens, the county will need an additional eight employees, Becker said.

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The inside of the new facility is taking shape

In the past seven months, the inside of the new building has taken shape. Walls now show where offices, meeting rooms, programming rooms, jail cells and other features of the new building will be when it opens. The beginning of the new Wood County boardroom can be seen. Windows are in place in the three-story atrium that will welcome visitors and security glass and doors are in place where the public will go to the Wood County Sheriff's Office.

People who have been inside the Wood County Courthouse during the past several months may have seen evidence of the construction. To improve courthouse safety, a secure hallway will go from the new jail to the Branch 1 Courtroom on the third floor of the current courthouse. Construction crews have taken over the Branch 1 office, normally occupied by Wood County Circuit Judge Greg Potter and his clerk to remodel it and allow for the secure access hallway.

New jail will provide areas for sick inmates

The new jail will allow for keeping inmates who are ill in a segregated area, Becker said. The county learned during the COVID pandemic that it is sometimes necessary to segregate inmates who have contracted contagious illnesses from the general population.

The new jail also has better accommodations for taking care of sick or injured inmates. In the jail area is an exam room that can be used for examining and treating inmates, Becker said. The nurse's office in the current jail is small and has a cot in one corner to treat inmates Ashbeck said.

Facility will include improved amenities for Sheriff's Office staff

Other differences in the new Wood County Sheriff's Office and Jail include both men's and women's locker rooms. The locker room in the old sheriff's office had to be closed to expand the department's evidence room, Becker said. The Sheriff's Office staff also will have a workout room, which they have not had in the past.

The construction team has worked well with the department during the past year, Becker said. When Ashbeck saw the women's locker room had floor-to-ceiling windows in between the rows of lockers, he brought the issue to the project manager's attention and they came up with frosting the windows, so no one can see in. Becker said.

Increased space will allow for added inmate programming and services

Becker has worked to increase programming for inmates during his time in office, but the old jail has limited what can be done because of a lack of space. The new jail has multiple programming rooms that will allow the jail to offer more opportunities for inmates to improve themselves.

There is a large laundry room and large kitchen that will not only be capable of taking care of the jail's needs, but also will allow inmates to learn job skills while incarcerated, Becker said.

The jail also is unique in that the discharge planner's office is off the hall where inmates are released, Becker said. It will give opportunities for the inmates to get any help they need as they are leaving the jail.

Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Look inside the new Wood County Sheriff’s Office and Jail