Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel presented jail statistics to the county council members this week. It was identical to the report given to the county commissioners last week.
He stressed that the jail population is at capacity with 232 inmates in the jail on Monday, Aug. 13. There 239 beds in the jail.
He added that he is working with the judges, community corrections and probation in an attempt to get inmates through the system a little quicker to free up some space in the jail, but an expansion is still at the forefront of discussions.
On top of the at-capacity conditions, 4 of the 24 air handling units have failed this year on the 10-year-old building. The repairs are typically over $1,000 to fix each time. Additionally, the sewer grinder is malfunctioning and that will need to be addressed quickly. Sheriff Hassel anticipates asking the council for an additional appropriation to cover some of those expenses in September.
