Hall County asked to provide more ICE space

By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

Published: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 7:53 PM CST

Hall County is being asked to consider adding more space to house detainees for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The county may consider using the former Children's Village building or the third floor of the old jail to meet the need.

"They are looking for a more residential-type setting," Hall County Corrections Director Fred Ruiz told the Hall County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The federal request came in the form of a questionnaire that only two Nebraska jails -- Hall County and Douglas County -- received at the end of last year, he said.

The questionnaire asked for a number of details about alterations in visitation policies, detainee uniforms, recreation space and sleeping space.

"In an essence, we were asked what it would take for our department to convert space into more residential-type or less criminal-type setting like we now have," Ruiz said.

Hall County's current 300-bed jail was built with a $22 million bond and opened in July 2008. Its capacity is larger than the current local need. It was built as such for future local growth and to rent out bed space in the interim to generate revenue.

While some changes, such as visitation and uniforms, could easily be made for some ICE detainees, other changes simply couldn't be accommodated.

For instance, Ruiz said the current jail has no outdoor recreation space. It simply has a rec room with louvered windows that are opened to the point of allowing enough natural sunlight and fresh air to meet the Nebraska Jail Standards regulations for providing "outdoor" time.

Finally, the questionnaire inquired about access to a facility that would be appropriate for use as residential-type housing.

Ruiz said ICE has "noncriminals" and families and children to house.

"Someone mentioned the Children's Village," Ruiz said when he began talking about possible spaces with county officials.

He visited the former Children's Village building near the Hall County Housing Authority and Golden Towers.

"It's sprinklered. The basement is the perfect size. There's a lot of pluses to that building," Ruiz said. "One of the problems in the neighborhood might be a bigger fence that needs to go up, and once you control access into a facility -- lock doors -- Jail Standards gets involved. It's a jail. We'll have to address that."

The other consideration is the third floor of the old jail, which is very solid, Ruiz said.

"The infrastructure is there. It needs some work, but the bathroom areas are there. Some walls could be put up. The big question might be lighting," he said.

"How residential do they want this?" asked Supervisor Dan Wagoner, a former Hall County corrections officer.

Ruiz said he's not sure, nor is he sure that Nebraska Jail Standards has protocols on such residential housing.

It's believed that separate sleeping rooms will be needed for men and women, and two common rooms -- one for eating and one for TV or recreation -- may be required.

Ruiz estimated that Children's Village could accommodate about 35 detainees while the top floor of the old jail could house 80.

He only wants to move forward with the project if ICE would give a "firm commitment" to its use -- maybe even front some renovation money -- and assure that the new residential facility would not take away detainees already housed at the new 300-bed jail.

Hall County has already been paid $961,200 for housing ICE detainees at the new jail in the first six months of this fiscal year -- July through December 2009.

"I hope something will work, but we need to proceed slow," Wagoner said.

"I want the commitment on their part before we do anything," Ruiz said in agreement. "And I don't want to hurt what we currently have. I look at this as an addition to what we're doing, not to supplant it."

"This is very preliminary," he told the board.


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