EPHRATA — Grant County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy of Corrections Phil Coats said Thursday afternoon that the new county jail is coming close to completion and remains on-time and on-budget. The last few days have even brought about a significant step. 

“One big milestone that we were able to meet earlier this week is we got our temporary certificate of occupancy,” Coats said.  

The inspections associated with that temporary certificate went well, he said. Only a few items needed to be corrected. In the meantime, furniture such as office items have been brought in to get things set up for the facility to open around the end of May.  

“We’ve got brand new mattresses already, and we’ve got another 300 coming that we’re going to start furnishing the jail with, then get things really ready to be opened,” he said. “We get the keys, in a sense, at the end of May; we’re looking at probably about a two-month transition period.”  

The facility's cost is about $155.5 million and Coats said the project is on time and within its budget. 

Transferring operations to the new facility over time has advantages, Coats said. Staff are able to get used to the new building’s layout, technology and other improvements compared with the old facility. That should make for a safe transfer of inmates from the current jail to the new one.  

Staffing is being finalized for the new jail as well. Coats said the Corrections Division was down about 10 staff at this time last year, but has reduced the number of openings to four. The hope is to also always have a nurse on hand at the new jail to ensure care is provided to inmates in a timely manner as well, but that is still in development.  

According to a project blog maintained by the county’s facilities department, the new jail will provide 256 beds in its cell block.  

As for the old jail, the project blog indicates that the current Law and Justice building will be vacated as GCSO moves to the new facility. That will provide about 26,000 square feet of space available to be remodeled to fit other county needs and eliminate the need for the county to lease space. Possible uses for the space include additional courtrooms, officers for other court staff, facilities for jurors, space for the Grant County Auditor’s Office to expand, a possible cafeteria and other options. No plans have been finalized at this time.