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Last Wednesday, I spent some unexpected time in jail.
Following a ribbon cutting to officially celebrate the newly constructed Barry County Sheriff’s Office and jail on Old Exeter Road, attendees were invited to tour the facility.
Having missed a previous opportunity to do so because I had a prior engagement at the time, I was excited to see the finished product.
For some background, this is a $17 million, 30,000-square-foot structure which houses the administrative and law enforcement officers for the Sheriff’s Office, as well as what’s officials lauded as a state-of-the-art 100-bed jail. Funding comes in the form of a loan, which is being invested to lessen the interest costs. The county aims to pay for the facility in full in 8-10 years.
Walking into the building was a bit of a shock in modernity, especially compared to the previous Sheriff’s Office — a converted house — and jail, which was in such disrepair it’s been closed since the summer.
As far as the Sheriff’s Office portion goes, the building offers more space and more opportunity for hosting in-house trainings. Other perks include things like men’s and women’s locker rooms, which include showers that will allow deputies coming off cases to clean up, change and leave work at the office.
The evidence locker also is much larger and much-improved, requiring new protocols for handling of evidence and proper logging. Many new features of the building will help procedures, as described by Sheriff Danny Boyd on our tour, run much more smoothly.
The opportunity for the same regarding jail procedures is also much greater. Apart from a small outside area gated for use in case of a fire, inmates will be now be completely indoors from the time they get out of a deputy’s vehicle to the time they are released.
A big point made prior to the jail’s construction and in the tour was the sally port, a double door garage where inmates will be moved in and out of vehicles. Having the ability to close both doors and immediately have inmates inside — versus escorting them from the vehicle outdoors into the old jail — is a welcomed safety measure for inmates and deputies.
Entrances into the jail from the sally port are also divided for men and women, eliminating genders from seeing one another at intake and through the entire course of their stays. Isolation rooms and padded rooms also add to the jail’s ability to separate individuals for their own or others’ safety.
Multiple jail pods will house inmates at varying levels of security, and they all have skylights some 20-30 feet high, considered impenetrable and essential to inmate mental health.
The rec yard, also indoors, has an open roof heavily barred and meshed, eliminating any possibility of nefarious individuals attempting to throw or drone deliver something inside the building.
Perhaps the greatest feature of the jail is the smoke control panel, which allows for correctional officers to control airflow in individual cells and pods, massively lessening the possibility of a fire getting out of control. Johnny Fain, senior technician with Johnson Controls, said the feature is the only one in a jail in the state of Missouri, and many other counties have reached out to inquire about it. He hoped to start convincing schools to implement such systems for safety reasons.
Overall, the facility is impressive, and I was not the only one who thought so. Among the individuals at the ribbon cutting and touring the building were Wilma Hilburn and Dale Brightwell, who live in a home nearby.
Hilburn, aware of jail breaks at the old facility, was concerned about her home’s security being so close to the new building.
By midway through the tour, her concerns had been assuaged.
The initial outcry when the county purchased the land for the new jail was heard. Yet, seeing the finished product, Hilburn left saying she felt completely safe.
As we toured, final punch list items were being completed. Boyd said he hopes to have the jail up and running by the last week of December.
The Sheriff’s Office administration and deputies have been a the new building, located 94 Barry County Drive, since Oct.
21.
I am excited for the future of the Sheriff’s Office, as this investment is bringing a wave of opportunity. With the new facility and funds from the law enforcement tax now in the budget, Boyd’s office is poised to increase staff and coverage of the county, an extremely welcomed prospect after recent years of skeleton crews and challenging call numbers.
Becoming fully staffed should go a long way in improving the county, and after winning reelection this year, Boyd is in prime position to get it done and build a legacy of improving law enforcement in Barry County.
I hope the best for Boyd and his staff on this venture. We’re counting on them.
Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat. com.
