Stearns County Opening Up Jail to Tours on Saturday

(KNSI) – Coming off the heels of last year’s open house at the Stearns County Courthouse, the sheriff’s office is holding a similar event.

Stearns County is allowing the public to see its jail and law enforcement center on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Tours will run every 30 minutes. Stearns County Sheriff Steve Soyka says there is more to see than just the bars. “We will do the tours of the facility, and it’s not just the jail. It’ll be dispatch [and] the patrol area. We’ll have some squad cars open for people to look at. We’ll have a K9 demo going on and some other equipment.”

The public will also see the sheriff’s office drone, SWAT vehicles, the shooting range and the workout area. Kids will also have a chance to get some free prizes and enjoy cookies and refreshments. Hundreds of people toured the old courthouse during an event for its 100th birthday last November.

It’s the first time the sheriff’s office has allowed people to look inside the building since it opened in 1987 because the jail is usually full of inmates. But due to staffing shortages, a housing unit of more than 40 inmates is being kept in other counties, creating a chance for the public to see the inside of the facility. The jail needs to hire 13 corrections officers to have enough staff to guard those cells.

Soyka says the open house will also allow the public to see how they’ve outgrown their current location. “We want to be able to show the community what we’re working with now. The space crunch that we’re in as far as the office, space for staff, lockers and that kind of thing. To show off the good attributes of the building but also the fact that it’s probably getting to be time to look at a new facility.”

The jail currently houses up to 140 inmates when fully staffed. Officials will need to double that space to keep up with demand.

In March 2021, the Stearns County Board of Commissioners held a meeting to discuss renovating the law enforcement center and jail or building new facilities. County officials say the two buildings are nearly 35 years old, and their configuration has become obsolete. County officials also say they need more space in both buildings.

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