County to spend $26K for new locks at jail

Wichita County will spend $26,000 to replace locks on cabinets in the jail at the Law Enforcement Center, even though the current locks are only a couple of years old.

The locks in question are located in the inmate pods for the use of corrections officers.

"It's like desk drawers, basically. The locks they put in there are cheap and an inmate can go jerk the drawers open," Sheriff David Duke said. "The locks are not well made enough to sustain somebody jerking on a drawer, so it breaks the lock every time."

He said the designers of the jail did not take any guidance on what kind of locks were needed. He said no weapons are kept in the drawers.

A total of 137 locks will be changed out.

Replacement of locks is one of several instances where the county has had to go back to the drawing board for the center that opened in August 2021.

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The jail failed its first state inspection in June 2021 over minor issues such as smoke detectors, the inmate telephone system, plumbing that did not flush correctly and built-in tables for inmates that were too tall.

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In July 2022, county commissioners allocated $12,000 for bullet-resistant glass that was not installed in the lobby area as called for.

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"They cut that out and never told us nothing about it," Duke said, referring to HOK Architects, who designed the LEC.

He said he thinks cost cuts were made after the county learned shortly before groundbreaking in late 2018 that plans were several million dollars over budget.

On Monday, Wichita County Commissioners also voted to spend $4,000 to replace gooseneck microphones used by officers at the LEC.

Voters approved a $70 million bond issue in 2017 to build the new jail and Sheriff's Office. Money for the new locks and microphones will come from what remains of that money, which has earned interest over the years.

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Duke said over all the new facility was working out well.