New jail pod brings capacity, saved life and new treatment grants for inmates

County officials reported the new jail pod — opened over Labor Day — has allowed expanded capacity but surfaced some facility issues that remain to be corrected, notably regrading shower drains on the first floor.

"Within 30 days, we did see our first life saved," Speaker 5 told the board, saying vital-sign monitoring installed in booking cells identified a cardiac event within minutes and staff were able to revive the person and transport them to hospital care.

Operational metrics presented show bookings are up 49% compared with the same period last year while average daily population is up about 12% and mental-health contacts have increased by 58%. Officials warned the added workload has not yet been met with additional staffing.

Administrators said they received approval to apply for a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) state-sponsored grant for discharge planning and programming and were awarded $205,000 to contract with a local nonprofit for structured inmate programming starting in January.

Speaker 5 also described a separate Family Healthcare grant to provide up to 1,000 doses of the medication SUBLOCADE — a monthly injectable treatment for opioid use disorder — that the county will begin offering to inmates at no cost while in custody starting in January. "Those shots, if we buy them off the shelf, cost about $1,400 a piece," Speaker 5 said, and the program will track uptake and outcomes for future planning.

Officials said they will collect statistics on program participation and on SUBLOCADE screening and administration so the county can report outcomes to the legislature and evaluate whether the interventions reduce post‑release opioid events and nursing workload.