MONTROSE, IOWA -- The new jail in Lee County, Iowa has been open since last fall, but the public got a chance to take a look inside the newly renovated administrative offices and jail.
The former facility was built in 1981, so an update was needed to keep inmates and staff safe.
There's a new user friendly 911 call center that has movable tables and computers. One of the newest technologies that they have is a video call booth in each of the cells.
This allows visitors to video chat with an inmate... the video stops automatically after 20 minutes.
Also in each cell is a TV without sound. If the inmate wants sound they have to purchase headphones, which in turn pays for the programming.
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One of the biggest changes in the jail is the separation of inmates.
"We now have cell blocks where we can actually classify each of our inmates rather they be a general poulation inmate, a mass security risk, medium male or medium female or we have what we call swing dorms which is where we keep what I term protective custody inmates. Might be a sex offender some one who has problems with someone in the other part of jail," Lee County Sheriff Buck Jones said.
The administrative offices in the sheriff's department have also been renovated, with fresh paint, and new carpeting.
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