Sheriff's office working on quarantine room for county jail

Sheriff's office working on quarantine room for county jail

Thanks for joining us.

I'm patrece dayton.

And... i'm rondrell moore.

Sheriff's offices around the wabash valley have made a priority of keeping covid 19 out of their jails.

News 10 bureau chief gary brian tells us what steps knox county is taking to make sure the jail population stays healthy.

Gar} "keeping sickness out of a jail can be difficult.

When that sickness became covid-19 it became the first priority for the knox county sheriff's office."

In spring of 2020 many places shut their doors to keep covid-19 out.

The knox county jail was one of the first to close their doors to the public.

"we've had some staff members to get it.

They've all recovered.

We're all back to work now.

Inmates, thus far knock on wood, we haven't had it amongst the inmates.

But i know that could come at anytime."

All it takes is for one person to have the virus to begin the spread.

In 2020 a body scanner was installed at the jail.

This keeps contact to a minimum when inmates arrive.

But now the sheriff's office is wanting to take a step further.

"we have an indoor rec room here inside the jail and it can be used as a quarantine room or if we get the sickness in here, if we get the virus in here, we can use that as a recovery room also."

The recreational room is underutilized.

But it's not just as simple as changing the title.

A project to convert the space would install beds, showers, and a bathroom.

"the concrete floor will have to be cut up.

Electrical and plubing will have to be ran into it to get everything up and running.

Then we have to bring some beds, bunk beds in and have those bolted down."

The project is estimated to cost around 200 thousand dollars.

That funding will come from cares act funds the county received.

"none of the sheriffs in the state have the luxury of sending people home if they get sick.

They're in here to stay and do their sentence.

So if they get sick we've got to have some place to put them."

Gar} "work is expected to begin in the next couple of months.

Working from home in vincennes, gary brian news 10."

As the knox county jail works on a quarantine works on a