Poinsett County Jail opens new 20-bed expansion
An expansion at the Poinsett County Jail has been completed and 20 beds have been added to the facility.
By: Alejandra Hernandez
KAIT
The Poinsett County jail expansion is complete. The jail added 20 more beds to its facility.
“It’s been long overdue, and we’re excited about it,” Poinsett County Sheriff Kevin Molder said.
The jail held a ribbon-cutting on Tuesday for its expansion. Sheriff Kevin Molder said the 30-year-old jail has undergone many changes, but it needed more to maintain its capacity.
“We have noticed our population and female inmates have grown over the years, and we need the space to ... hold more females,” he said.
Several people stopped by the ribbon-cutting to see the new space, including a man who has spent a night or two there.
“Every time I come to jail, I don’t ever get to leave, so I can come and go right now. I can just walk in and walk out, that’s why I came,” Tony Watkins, a former inmate, said.
But, Watkins added, “It looks the same to me.”
While it may appear the same, Sheriff Molder said the jail won’t be. The extra beds will expand capacity for both male and female inmates.
“Operational capacity is what I call it, where operations may, on paper, say we can hold 134. But after this facility opens, it will be 154,” he said.
The sheriff said one quarter to one third of the jail’s population is state inmates at any given time. The expansion will make room for more.
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