The Lenoir County Jail could be run by the Wizard of Oz.
From a secure room inside the labyrinthine new complex, two trainees monitored each door and gate in the facility as Sheriff W.E. “Billy” Smith led current and former county commissioners, along with Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy, through the jail Friday.
When the jail officially opens for business — the sheriff’s office is eyeing March 15 — only one guard will be responsible for being the all-seeing, all-hearing gatekeeper.
Smith said of the jail, “It is as secure as you can get.”
There are about 150 cameras in the complex, and intercoms that allow the gatekeeper to hear requests and to listen passively.
“Nothing happens in there that she doesn’t control,” Smith said. “The gates, the doors, she could be watching us on camera, and she could be listening right now. There’s no entry or exit unless she allows it. They’ve been training and training and training, and there’s a whole lot to it.”
When new arrestees enter the jail, they’ll enter through a gate off McLewean Street and into a secure area that is large enough to hold six cruisers.
“There’s no more jumping and running and chasing and struggling,” Smith said. “They can come in the side door, but I think everybody’s reached a consensus as this is where everybody should come. Except for those who show up to the magistrate’s office, and just walk in.”
Once the arrestee goes into the building, the arresting officer will collect the information necessary for booking. There are holding rooms for particularly unruly arrestees, with windows allowing for monitoring. The holding rooms have telephones, but they only allow for collect calls.
There’s also an Intoxilyzer room for testing DWI suspects. At the other end from the entrance is the magistrate’s office window.
From there, it’s one of two ways: left, out to King Street and hopefully back home.
Or right, and further into the jail from processing.
The room where new prisoners are processed contains work stations for guards, holding cells for prisoners, if needed, and a new property storage room.
The storage room is where a prisoner’s personal items will be held until he or she is released. It contains a deep row of sliding shelves, each filled with plastic tubs. It’s meant to be in use for double the jail’s new capacity.
“It’s real nice — it’s designed for 500 people,” Smith said. “So, in the future, you don’t have to build that. And we’ll eventually go down to the kitchen, and it’s designed for 500 people, so we don’t have to add another kitchen.
“In the years down the road, if you needed another (jail), all you build are more holding cells. You’ve got enough booking area, processing area — everything’s in place.”
Inmates are housed in one of four pods, each identical to the other. Two pods and a tower sit on one floor, while the other two pods and tower rest on the floor above. Each pod contains cells for 48 people, shower facilities, telephone access, commissary access, a video conferencing room, several metal tables and a large, wall-mounted flat-screen TV.
The idea is to limit prisoner movement to when necessary and to make it as secure as possible.
The inmates’ visitors will only be able to see them through the video conferencing screen. The public will go to one room, while the prisoner remains in the pod.
“We have a person who is designated to turn that computer on and make that connection, and (inmates) have a 15-minute visitation window in which to visit with whomever, through that unit there,” Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Chris Hill said, gesturing to a windowed-room in one of the pods. “Once it’s over, it shuts down, the next person goes in the room, or the next two people go in that room, and carry out their visitation.”
Prisoners whose last name begins with A-M have visitation on Thursdays, while N-Z have visitation on Fridays.
Next to the room is a bank of phones that are available for use.
“They’re inmate phones provided by CenturyLink, and we were able to negotiate a commission rate of 66 percent, so the county’s actually making money on each phone call (inmates) make,” Hill said.
Between the phones and the video conferencing room is a wall-mounted touchscreen inmates can use to order snacks or products allowed in the jail. They’ll use a personal identification number on a bracelet to withdraw money from their account. Friends and family will have access to a public version where they can add money to the account.
Even the TV is remotely controlled.
“That’s the only TV here, and they don’t watch what they want to watch — it’s controlled by the tower,” Smith said.
There’s also a new evidence room, which will be outfitted with collapsible shelving like in the personal property room, but with gun lockers, as well.
The new jail did appear to bustle with modernity, except for the manuals for new inmates. They have Smith’s name on the cover as sheriff, and he’s leaving his post March 31.
“It’s already outdated,” Smith said.
There are public tours of the jail from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 or wes.wolfe@kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.