As we begin the New Year I think it is important to look at the past and prepare for the future.
Last year was a very busy year for deputies both on patrol and in our corrections division. For those who don’t know, our patrol division is staffed by 18 deputies who respond to all 758 square miles of the county. Patrol deputies handled almost 9,000 calls for service, responded to 675 motor vehicle accidents and made 3,500 misdemeanor, felony and warrant arrests. These same deputies patrolled almost 400,000 miles.
Our Corrections Division was just as busy providing daily lodging to 44,837 inmates for the year. That number equates to an average 122 individuals lodged in the facility on a daily basis. Also this past year our corrections staff completed the process of becoming compliant with federal inmate housing standards, a first for Ogle County.
As we look forward to 2017, we continue to expand regional partnerships to prevent and solve crimes, which was extremely effective this past year. These coalitions continue to positively affect not only communities in our county but the crime we share with surrounding counties.
One of our special projects this year concerns storm sirens. This will be an ongoing project requiring proper planning to efficiently and adequately cover the roughly 50 percent of the county not covered by storm sirens. We have teamed with Exelon to begin this process to provide early severe storm warnings to all citizens of the county.

As many have heard the county board developed a plan many years ago to address infrastructure needs of the county facilities. The plan involved the construction of the Judicial Center, the renovation of the Courthouse, the construction of the Public Safety building and now the last piece to the plan is the construction of a new county detention facility. Let’s not get the cart before the horse. The first question that should be asked is “Does Ogle County need a new jail?”
The short answer is yes, but why?
The current facility has a capacity of 109 beds. This was expanded in the mid 1990s to meet the needs of the office. During this renovation, lodging was placed in the basement to increase the number of beds. Currently, we deal with ongoing mechanical issues, an inmate can easily block sewers in the lower level, heat and A/C in administrative areas cannot be regulated, part failures require custom fabrication, but most importantly the county jails have become mental health facilities.
The current facility provides very little classification space to efficiently house special need inmates. The planning process undertaken by the board has been thorough and all encompassing. The county board hired a firm to complete a needs study to determine housing requirements for the next 20 years. This study indicated based on current projections a facility housing between 180-200 beds should be constructed.
Following this phase the committee and I began looking at property currently owned by the county with a footprint large enough to provide a construction of a detention facility. This resulted in two locations, one at the Public Safety Complex and the other west of the Judicial Center. As a steward of the tax dollars, this was an easy answer. The property currently owned by the county west of the Judicial Center provides a significant advantage to any property. The current request of the City of Oregon to vacate the right of way only adds to the attributes of this property.
This location allows our Corrections Division to operate in the most efficient manner possible. It provides the opportunity to share resources, house additional inmates all while maintaining current staffing levels. It has also been determined if the facility were moved even a few blocks away this change would drastically increase operating expenses by $300,000.
What most people do not realize is the current County Jail has been located in downtown Oregon since the 1960s. The projected design will mirror the current Judicial Center design and inmates will still have no contact with the public. A modern facility will provide safer working and living environments for both staff and inmates.
As you can see, 2017 is shaping up to be extremely busy, but one with the potential to continue to provide excellent service to the citizens while preparing for the future. As always if you every have a question or concern please do not hesitate to contact our office at 815-732-2136.