Wood County Sheriff’s Department Preparing to Move Into New Jail

Friday, April 19th, 2024 -- 10:00 AM

(Hailey Clevenger, WSAW) The Wood County Sheriff’s Department is just months away from moving into a brand new jail.

According to Hailey Clevenger with WSAW, the new facility will have better maintenance and more features. It’s also three times larger than the current jail. The new jail is scheduled to be finished in October and will be ready for occupancy in January. It will have space for 300 inmates.

The current facility was built in 1996, and no longer has the capacity to house the county’s jail population. Right now, there is only space for 112 people. This means inmates are sent to other counties.

Before plans for the new jail were finalized, county leaders said 100 additional inmates were in other facilities and the county was maxed out on electronic monitoring. In 2021, the bill to house inmates in Waupaca County was $985,000.

And the county also paid $260,000 to house inmates in Adams County. The new building will also have additional space for Sheriff’s Department employees. “Our evidence storage is going to be many times bigger than what we have right now, which is a need.

The corner will have an office within the sheriff’s department, there will be an area for our K-9 unit, you know to bring the dogs within the facility that’s a secure area. And many offices, a meeting room, and we’ll have a training room,” explained Sheriff Shawn Becker.

The additional space means they can hire more staff. They plan to hire four more correctional officers, bringing the total to eight. The Vice Chair of the Wood County Board said things will also look different for the public when arriving to the facility.

“The courthouse is now going to be moved over to the center between the new jail and the courthouse. So we will have a much bigger atrium, we’re going to have a bigger security screening point. From there you can either be directed into the old courthouse area or to the new jail section,” said Laura Valenstein.

Becker explained that staff will need to be trained before everyone is moved from the current jail to the new one.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.