Prison board takes action on new booking center
As the calendar nears the July 7 date proposed for the first arraignment in the proposed booking center at Washington County jail, the county prison board approved an agreement for operations and responsibilities.
The opening of a second booking center will not affect arraignments during hours when district judges’ offices are open. It will operate overnight, on holidays and on weekends.
“It is anticipated that the interim booking center will be a temporary solution to dealing with individuals charged with a crime outside normal business hours,” the agreement reads. “Future planning will address a more comprehensive solution for booking, screening, treating and placing offenders.”
The county’s sole booking office has been in the Family Court Center across a plaza from the jail, but Commissioner Harlan Shober expanded on the wording of the agreement after the prison board meeting.
“Our plan moving forward is that we would take a look at combining that booking center entirety into one operation at some point in time, something near the jail or part of the jail,” Shober said.
“The idea behind this is a security and safety issue. It’s also getting police officers back on the street and allowing the officers to get back and patrol their communities.”
Prisoners will be arraigned via video cameras set up in district judges’ offices and fingerprinted.
Jail inmates who were transported to the Family Court Center for various registration procedures will not have to leave the correctional facility.
“You will not have sheriff’s deputies moving them around quite as much,” Shober continued.
Commission Chairman Larry Maggi expressed a concern that members of the prison board did not have a chance to review the three-page agreement before Wednesday’s meeting.
With several provisoes attached, the board unanimously approved the agreement, which also requires passage by the board of commissioners and an administrative order by President Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca.
“It’s something that pre-dates me,” said Shober, who took office in 2012. The local Criminal Justice Advisory Board recommended the establishment of a jail booking center several years ago.
The board also recognized Correctional Officer Eli Nathan Chipps and Capt. Mark Stewart for their work on the project.