OMAHA- State officials overseeing jails want Douglas County to address several concerns before receiving final approval for the downtown juvenile detention center plans. Those include a too-small space for visitation, parking for visitors and volunteers, room sizes that would prohibit the county from expanding the capacity in the future, staffing, food service for detained youths and natural light in their rooms. The concerns were spelled out in a letter to the Douglas County Board from Denny Macomber, director of the Jail Standards Division of the Nebraska Crime Commission. They won’t prevent the Jail Standards Board from approving the project. The plans as submitted meet the state’s jail design and construction standards, Macomber said Monday.

“The issues we have and that I address there (in the letter) are things that they need to straighten out before they move in to avoid problems down the road,” he said.

The list includes serious concerns. The room size issue relates to the relatively smaller capacity, 64 people, at the county’s new detention center than at the current Douglas County Youth Center, which can hold more than 100.

At 77 square feet each, the rooms in the new detention center will be smaller than the 90-square-foot rooms at the current facility. The new rooms will big enough for one person each, Macomber said.

“We recognize this is by design,” his letter said. “However, making the rooms smaller than ninety square feet means that these rooms can never be double bunked should the county want to expand their options for housing in the future.”

For the full article click HERE