Jail census down, inspections highlight new fire‑code enforcement and modest added costs

Jackson County Jail Administrator Andrew Long reported on March 17 that the facility census has recently fallen to 23, with 4 county inmates and 19 housed for Scott County. "Our current count is low. We're at 23... of which four are ours and 19 are Scott County," he said, and provided monthly averages (Jan ~29.6; Feb ~32.14) and bookings (36 in Jan, 47 in Feb).

Long described several recent inspections. He said a fire marshal visit flagged items that had previously been inspected on an annual schedule but that the marshal said those items were required more frequently under the International Fire Code — for example, changing fire‑alarm inspection to twice yearly and more frequent sprinkler testing — and that the new enforcement approach would add about $1,100 a year in inspection costs. "If you guys recall... our fire alarms were getting inspected once a year...this fire marshal came in and said it's actually supposed to be done twice a year," he told the board. He also reported a successful kitchen health inspection and invited supervisors to a jail inspection on March 26.

The board did not take formal action beyond accepting the report. The transcript includes revenue numbers for January ($39,270) and February ($36,575); a year‑to‑date facility total in the transcript appears garbled and is not stated here as a verified aggregate. Supervisors thanked staff for maintaining operations during the lower census and for communication with partner counties.