KALAMAZOO, Mich. — After years of problems with overcrowding and early inmate releases, the Kalamazoo County Jail finally has more space.
A 23 million dollar expansion allows the jail to hold extra 93 inmates, bringing full capacity to 500 people.
Some cells will open up to day rooms, allowing inmates to have video visitations with their families.
They’ll also be able to watch educational television programs. The expansion includes a medical facility that will have space to treat 23 inmates. Space for a community mental health counselor is also on-site.
Sheriff Richard Fuller said, “In our current facility next door, we have bars, we have a linear system set up where I can`t see the inmates cell until I`m right in front of it.”
He continued, “Where today, I have many vantage points throughout the whole facility to look into cells from just about anywhere.”
Over the next several months newly expanded areas of the jail will open in phases. The jail as a whole will be operational by October.
