By Craig Murphy
Springfield Times Editor
By and large, thinks went smoothly in the first weekend of operations for the new Springfield Municipal Jail.
Although a press release from the Springfield Police Department at 5 p.m. last Friday announced the jail was open for business, it was actually a bit later.
Richard Golden, Jail Operations supervisor, said the 100-bed jail opened at 7 p.m. last Friday, and took in its first inmate at 7:55 p.m. on a trespassing charge. A second inmate was booked later in the evening.
Golden said Monday morning five inmates were taken into custody on opening weekend, including a DUII arrest. Golden was expecting to receive at least 10 more inmates by the end of the day Monday, plus possibly a few more from Monday's court hearings.
"We could end up with 20 people by the end of the day," Golden said.
A computer system allows staff at the Springfield Jail to see what inmates are currently housed at the Lane County Jail in Eugene, and vice versa. Golden said the computer systems were the only problem areas during the opening weekend.
"We've got a few computer-based issues," he said. "They're not necessarily glitches, but we may have been using the wrong codes for the tracking system. We're working that out with the county."
Overall, Golden was pleased with how things went at the $10 million facility, located at 344 A St.
"Things went far better than I was nervous about," he said. "The jail facility and the locks, the kitchen, meals, all of that went off without a hitch. The hitches are in bringing up the new computer programs, and interacting with other agencies from a new facility. Nothing is broken, we just need to learn better how to operate the system."
For more on this story and other news from around the Springfield area, be sure to pick up a copy of the Feb. 5 issue of Springfield Times, available at news racks and stores all around the area. Look under the 'Newspaper Locations' link on this site to find out where. To subscribe to the paper, call 741-7368 or stop by 741 Main St.
