Saline County Jail Medical Unit (Courtesy of Saline County Administrator Phil Smith-Hanes)
In response to its growing population, Saline County plans to expand its jail in efforts to allow the sheriff’s department to continue protecting the community.
In the expansion, the facility will increase in size by 11,258 square feet, including a larger infirmary space, as well as 82 new beds.
Saline County Sheriff Rodney Wright says this is a necessary improvement. “We’ve been approved to add 82 more beds to Saline County jail, which is much needed,” Wright said.
Saline County Judge Matt Brumley highlighted the growth in population the county has seen since the jail saw its last expansion. “We have not had an expansion of this jail and bed space since 2010, so 14.5 years ago, while our population has grown over 25,000,” Brumley stated.
According to officials, the funding will come from the county’s general funds account which contained $10 million provided by the American Rescue Plan Act. The cost of the expansion will total $8.5 million, breaking down to roughly $103,000 per bed. According the Brumley, the expansion will increase the total capacity from 234 beds to 316.
“As you know, public safety is the foundation for any thriving community, and Saline County is a thriving community,” Wright added. “We are holding about 40 state inmates right now waiting to go to a state prison that were convicted in Saline County. There is no room for them to go up top.”
The sheriff and judge agreed that the beds will offer them some “breathing space,” but it isn’t a solution to the issue of overcrowding being shared across the nation.
“We are not being able to go after the criminals that are the misdemeanor crimes, the quality-of-life crimes, your public intox, your shop liftings, things like that because we don’t have the room simply,” Wright said.
Wright says that the expansion will allow law enforcement to give proper consequences to those crimes, but it will also help reduce the number of return offenders.
“When you’re trying to do your job, but the resource on the correctional side is not there, it’s got to be extremely frustrating for the sheriff’s department,” Brumley said.
As Saline County tackles the renovation, Brumely shares his hopes that the long-awaited expansion will offer relief to the deputies.
“While it’s not where we need to be, it’s the relief that we need immediately,” Brumley said.
Brumley believes there will still be work to do in continuing to the lower the bed-to-citizen ratio, but he is happy to see the county’s progress.
The Saline County Jail’s expansion is expected to see its completion in October of 2025.
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