The Gage County Detention Center was built in 1977 and was constructed to hold a total of 31 inmates. The jail was connected to the existing Sheriff´s Office and was designed to house four females, two juveniles, and twenty-two males with three special use cells. The jail employed a total of ten jail staff: two supervisors and eight corrections officers.
Changes
Since January 2007 with the newly elected Sheriff, the jail has gone through numerous changes. Staffing has changed and there are now two supervisors in the jail: one is the Jail Director who oversees jail operations on a daily basis and the other supervisor is a certified law enforcement officer as well as corrections certified. This position is considered a transport deputy and coordinates all transports as well as acts as a shift supervisor in the jail. This position also assists the road patrol should the need arise.
The population in the jail has doubled since January 2007 due to the number of arrests and sentencings. Since January 2007, the Sheriff allowed cotting in an attempt to hold all of our inmates instead of holding them at other facilities as a cost saving measure for Gage County. During this time, we also held numerous prisoners for other counties. In the year 2007, over $110, 000 was earned and/or saved by doing this. Since that time, the recommendation came from the Jail Consultant to the County Board to the Sheriff to stay more in line with the Jail Consultant's recommendation that was to quit cotting and cap our population at 26. This recommendation was due to various reasons to include liability, security, classification purposes, etc. Also since January 2007, the Sheriff has implemented a number of new programs which include providing in-house commissary for inmates, a behavior based incentive program, expansion of the visiting hours, and starting up the work release program again.
