New wing will open to expand Placer County Jail's capacity

By Erin Gallup-MainJournal Staff WriterAfter more than 15 years of planning, Placer County Jail employees are looking forward to the opening of a new wing in about 45 days.According to Lt. Karl Fulenwider, the 40,000-square-foot wing will house about 100 medium-and maximum-security inmates, increasing the housing capacity from 514 to 630 inmates. ?It will give us greater versatility on housing of problem inmates,? Fulenwider said. ?We have to release some (least threatening) inmates because of overcrowding and this will obviously help with that.?Capt. David Keyes said the 80,000-square-foot building, originally built in 1985, is usually near capacity with 70 beds available for women and the remaining 444 filled by men.?A number of people stay less than 24 hours and the longest stay is usually a year,? Keyes said.Fulenwider said problem inmates housed in the new wing include those with mental health problems, accused child molesters that need extra protection from other inmates and those who cannot get along with other inmates for various reasons.Keyes said the $7.5 construction project is almost done, but one of Allen Bender Inc.?s subcontractors is finishing one of the most important parts of the wing ? the controls for the lights, door locks, intercoms and more. Six-year Correctional Officer Tammy Clark said the facility will protect officers such as herself.?We are now going to have a maximum lockdown unit for people who would be better served in closer supervision,? she said.The jail, located at 2775 Richardson Drive, currently has an infirmary, two booking rooms, two observation rooms, a visitation room, two recreational yards, seven high-security pods and two open medium-security dorms.Clark and others often work six-hour shifts in one of the two medium-security dorms filled with 100 inmates. Another officer watches the two open tanks from a control house on the second story. ?The new wing might allow those tanks to be less populated for a while,? Clark said. ?The jail is usually full and this is a very needed thing in order to house the number of people we have serving sentences and people who are continuing to commit crime.? After its completion, officers will be trained in the new south wing and the administration plans to invite the public to tour the facility. Keyes said the project, funded primarily by the county and a $2.7 million grant from the California Board of Corrections, will have a memorable completion date.?We?ll do a public open house on the day we do a ribbon-cutting ceremony,? he said.After the educational classes are complete, officers will place inmates in the new facility to serve sentences or to await trial.?By spring we certainly hope to have inmates in there,? Fulenwider said. The Journal?s Erin Gallup-Main can be reached at ering@goldcountrymedia.com.