Gadsden County jail aging, reports say; officials push work-release and reentry supports

Gadsden County officials reported an aging jail, rising contraband and a pretrial-heavy population during the Public Safety Coordinating Council meeting.

Jail administrators described an older facility with ongoing maintenance needs and a mixture of medical and behavioral-health challenges among inmates. Kathleen White, who identified herself in the meeting as the jail administrator, said the county’s jail was built in 1989 and described maintenance work this year including replacement of a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning unit and repairs to locks and plumbing.

“As of today, we are overcrowded at the jail,” White said, and she reported the facility population at one point during the meeting as 86 inmates. White told the council that male inmates made up roughly 93.29 percent of the population and females about 6.71 percent. She said the…