Jail House Rocks
Posted by Lynn Droescher
on Aug 30, 2011
Sooner Rotary held it's Tuesday morning meeting at the new Cleveland County Jail. Sheriff Joe Lester and County Commissioner Rusty Sullivan were on hand to lead the tours of the facility, giving Rotarians an insider's look at the nearly completed building. It was obvious that although still under construction, the new jail will provide much needed room for current inmates, privacy for meetings and security for all concerned. Conservation of resources was a main consideration in developing a geothermal field to support 527 wells. With the reduction in costs for cooling the jail, the county plans to recoup the expense in the first ten years of occupation.
The original jail built in 1983 was designed to provide for a maximum of 177 inmates; currently 270 are housed there. The possibility of daily fines of $10K made the need for completing this project top priority for the county.The new facility will house 542 inmates with the ability to expand on the current infrastructure giving the ability to house up to 1500. September will be a time of transition as officers and county employees begin the process of moving in.
Other News of Importance included announcements of upcoming fellowship events over the next several months. Lunch Buddies at Billy Sims BBQ held at noon on Tues; Our Annual Picnic at the Bob Usry home scheduled for September 10; a Fishing Tournament to be held in Oct; the annual Hayride planned for November 12; plus Trash pickup and breakfast and Slice of Night Golf Tournament all make for a well rounded calendar with plenty of opportunities to meet and greet new and old members and their guests. A request was made for additional silent auction items to be made available for the Golf Tournament and a raffle ticket was passed out to each member to be sold.
The original jail built in 1983 was designed to provide for a maximum of 177 inmates; currently 270 are housed there. The possibility of daily fines of $10K made the need for completing this project top priority for the county.The new facility will house 542 inmates with the ability to expand on the current infrastructure giving the ability to house up to 1500. September will be a time of transition as officers and county employees begin the process of moving in.
Other News of Importance included announcements of upcoming fellowship events over the next several months. Lunch Buddies at Billy Sims BBQ held at noon on Tues; Our Annual Picnic at the Bob Usry home scheduled for September 10; a Fishing Tournament to be held in Oct; the annual Hayride planned for November 12; plus Trash pickup and breakfast and Slice of Night Golf Tournament all make for a well rounded calendar with plenty of opportunities to meet and greet new and old members and their guests. A request was made for additional silent auction items to be made available for the Golf Tournament and a raffle ticket was passed out to each member to be sold.