Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sheriff reports on condition of jail

Nevada County Sheriff Bobby Carlton said several recent projects at the county jail have been completed.

The plumbings done, Carlton said. And weve done some electrical work.

The plumbing has been an issue for months and Carlton said that each of the six cells now has a new shower and that the plumbing is up to code. That means all the cells can be utilized to capacity.

The electric situation became an issue about a month ago when several inmates began tampering with a breaker box. The five who were in a particular cell during the incident were each charged with interrupting a vital service to a public facility.

The jail has been written up for a number of violations during every state inspection in recent years. Carlton said the plumbing work will help alleviate at least some of the deficiencies and that adding administrative offices in the building across the street has also addressed some of the violations. While there are some things that cant be corrected - space for exercise during inclement weather, for example - Carlton said there will be fewer violations with the recent work.

Other changes in the sheriffs office over the past few months include the purchase of new vests for all officers, approval to enter into a lease-purchase agreement for four new patrol cars and the addition of a K9 officer.