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The first jail
was built in La Crosse County in 1858 and over the years the
location and size of the jail changed to meet the needs of the
justice system. In 1965 the 4th Street jail, designed
for male and female, adult and juvenile inmates, opened on the
second floor of the current Administrative Center. The linear jail
was originally created with 60 beds plus 10 receiving cells. As the
jail population grew, an area of the first floor in the
Administrative Center was remodeled as a 54 bed male Huber
facility. Huber inmates are given the privilege of leaving the jail
to go to work, counseling, school or treatment. They must submit a
schedule of their activities, have it verified and approved before
they may be released. Juveniles were moved out of the jail and
into a new Juvenile Detention Facility that opened in 1990. Again
the population grew and in 1992 the former Montgomery Ward’s Service
Center, across the street from the 4th Street jail, was
remodeled “temporarily” as a 110-bed male Huber facility. The old
first floor Huber area became a “Medium Security” area for male
inmates in the still overcrowded second floor jail.
As the jail
population continued to increase, a decision was made to build a new
Law Enforcement building which would provide housing for inmates
along with the offices and space for the Sheriff’s Dept., 911
Dispatch, Court System and District Attorney. The original plan
included a jail facility in excess of 400 beds. The final building
provided 172 beds in the 8-pod (17 to 30 beds per pod) housing unit
on the second floor of the Law Enforcement Center and 23 receiving
cells with a 7-bed medical area on the lower level.
The new jail in
the Law Enforcement Center opened in September of 1997. Due to lack
of space and the need for inmates to be housed utilizing objective
classification (a system of housing assignments based on current
charges, past criminal and jail behavior records), the female
population remained in the old second floor 4th Street
jail. The County Board authorized necessary repairs to be made to
comply with state mandates and passed a resolution to limit the
number of females to be held in the facility at a maximum of 39.
The “Medium Security” area in the Administrative Center was closed
and the “temporary” Male Huber Facility remained operational for a
total bed capacity of 321. On January 1, 2006 the Male Huber
Facility was closed; the bed capacity was reduced to 211.
In November of
2008, ground was broken for a 29.5 million dollar addition to the
1997 Law Enforcement Center. Jail expansion plans included a new
kitchen, jail garage, booking, master control, two 57-bed direct
supervision blocks, increased program space and remodeling of three
existing housing blocks along with the medical and receiving holding
cell area of the existing jail. On 02/23/11 the old 1960’s “Female
Jail” closed and all inmates were housed in the Law Enforcement
Center Jail with a bed capacity of 274 plus 49 receiving/medical and
close supervision cells.
Staffing for the
facilities includes the Captain, six Sergeants, 53 Jailers, a Jail
Chaplain, a program coordinator, an Account Clerk and a Jail
Receptionist. We contract with Health Professionals Ltd., Inc. to
provide inmate medical care and contract with our Human Services
Department and private individuals for mental health services. Our
meals are prepared on site through a contract with ARAMARK Inc. Court
Services personnel provide inmate transports.
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