Inmates may not stay for new jail building
Life in the Cache County Jail is colorful, even without the bright uniforms.
“When my deputies come in, they never know what’s going to happen that day,” said Lt. Kim Cheshire, the county’s jail commander. “That’s what makes this job so interesting. You can always have problems with fights and people doing things they shouldn’t be doing. We’re nothing but a small city.”
A city separated by bars, concrete and various, colored uniforms.
Those in orange get to leave the jail on work release. Inmates in blue have already been sentenced, while their counterparts in green clean, cook and do laundry in the jail.
When convicts first get to the jail, they are brought in and searched. Then they are asked personal questions.
“We ask about diseases, like AIDS or HIV, sexual preference, if they’re under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, and from that we determine which cell to put them in,” said Sgt. Terri Duncombe, the administrative sergeant of the jail.
After a prisoner is booked, he showers and turns over any personal items, including all clothing. Once in jail, inmates wear nothing that isn’t issued to them, Cheshire said.
“They can’t wear anything of theirs. It they’re female, we give them a bra and panties. If they’re male, we give them underwear,” he said.
Inmates can receive letters after they have been screened and met certain standards. Letters can’t refer to escape, and they can’t be obscene, Cheshire said.
Books aren’t allowed, but inmates can check them out from the jail’s library. They can have photos if they are the correct size, he said.
Inmates are fed three meals a day, but if they want additional snacks, they can buy them from the jail, as long as they have money in their jail accounts.
“Once a week, they can mark off what items they want. If they have money in their account, we’ll deduct the price and give it to them with a receipt,” Cheshire said. “We have chips and candy bars. Cup-o-Noodles is a very popular item.”
The majority of inmates stay for free. Only those who wear orange — those on work release — pay the jail. Work release is a program that allows a convict to continue working while staying at the jail.
“When a judge sentences someone to work release, they go to work at their job, and they have to come back to jail when they’re not working,” Cheshire said. “It’s really a benefit to the inmates because they can still pay their bills, and they get to keep their jobs.”
Those on work release pay the jail $20 a day, which helps pay for the extra processing and care they require, Cheshire said.
“It’s a lot more work to move them in and out every day,” he said. “We have to change their clothes and search them thoroughly. Unfortunately, not all people obey the rules. We have to keep an eye on them and make sure they’re going to work.”
Some states have made laws that require all inmates to help pay for their stay in jail, and Utah may be making similar changes, Cheshire said.
“Utah Legislature is trying to change the law and make it mandatory for inmates to pay for being in jail. They obviously don’t pay the full amount, but it helps so the citizens aren’t paying for all of it,” he said.
Inmates wearing the color green are those who work in the jail. They don’t get paid, yet other inmates envy them, Cheshire said.
“If someone has to be in jail, this is generally what most of them want to do. They get to go places where others don’t get to go,” he said.
Out of more than 90 inmates, there are currently six who wear green. They have all been screened for good behavior and share a cell separate from the rest of the inmates.
One of the inmates, who has been on work duty for two of his three months in the jail, said he likes the job because of the freedom it gives him. He and another inmate in green are also allowed to volunteer at a local food bank.
“It helps a lot just being able to go out and get fresh air,” he said. “I like going down to the food bank and help out. It’s nice to get out and be in public. They treat us good around here.”
Visiting hours at the jail are twice a week, and vary depending on sex and where an inmate’s last name falls in the alphabet. Inmates can visit for half an hour. They are allowed to make phone calls, but the calls are collect. The money from the phone calls goes to the jail.
“That money, and the money from the things they buy, goes back to them in games and stuff,” Cheshire said.
Most of those living in the Cache County Jail today won’t be in long enough to be transferred to the new jail the county is building, because those serving terms longer than one year are generally sent to state prisons, and the new facility won’t be done until January 2004.
–kcartwright@cc.usu.edu