"This is about a $264,000 item in front of us tonight,” says Patrick Jordan, Wexford County Administrator. “It’s a big one."
A meeting underway Wednesday to decide future staffing at a new Northern Michigan jail.
Wednesday, the Wexford County Board of Commissioners could decide to hire more corrections officers to work at the new jail.
The jail administrator requested five new full-time positions, adding to the existing 16.
Plus he wants to make a part-time clerical position full-time to offer more opportunities for inmate programs like getting GED’s.
The county administrator says the larger jail should have enough properly trained staff.
"If you are going to build a jail, and we decided to build this jail and spend all this money, you’ve got to staff it,” Jordan says. “You’ve got to staff it safely for not just the inmates but for staff, for the corrections officers. It has to be a safe environment to work in."
The jail is slated to be finished by November 15, but could be sooner if things go smoothly.
Right now, it’s nearly 50 percent complete.
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