“This has been a long process; we started back in 2021 when I approached the commissioners and told them that we were running into capacity issues,” said Sheriff Jesse Jahner, Cass County Sheriff’s Office.
The addition of the jail pod is an effort to increase public safety after there were multiple instances with law enforcement agencies where arrests were made, but the jail was full. Once the new pod is open, staff are expected to learn how the pod works.
“Our staff will need to work inside the facility and learn how to operate it, learn all the controls, and familiarize themselves with it,” Jahner said. “We’ll have to design some new policies because it’s designed differently than our other pods.”
The focus of the new pod is also on Cass County.
“There have been times when the older part of our jail has been full and we had to deny some access, and we don’t want to have to do that anymore,” Jahner said. “We want to get a handle on local issues here. Those individuals who are committing crimes in our community, and that’ll be our number one priority.”
The Cass County Jail can hold 348 inmates. Right now, the jail holds around 330 to 335 inmates. The reason why the jail isn’t at full capacity is that the jail needs to maintain a cushion in availability in case a mass arrest needs to be made.
