Jail slowly returns to full capacity
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, May 17th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMATILLA COUNTY – Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan says the final walk-through of the jail renovation project went well, with everything seeming to be in good working order. However, he wants to return to the full capacity slowly.
“Just last week I told the jail staff, ‘Let’s set our capacity at 140 inmates right now and see that everything is working,’” he said. “Then we will reevaluate.”
The renovation project wasn’t the only thing that forced a smaller capacity at the jail. Rowan said the COVID-19 pandemic also played a role. In the meantime he said there are some things that need to happen before full capacity can become a reality.
“We haven’t been up to those higher numbers in a few years,” he said. “In the meanwhile, some of the mattresses we provide to the inmate population have deteriorated, so we’ve got to replace some of those. Also, we have washing machines and dryers that aren’t working as well as well like, so we’re out to bid on them now.”
Rowan said he will reevaluate about two weeks to see if the capacity can be raised.
