St. Mary’s Sheriff David Zylak pressed the St. Mary’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to approve legislation to proceed onto the design phase of building a new jail.

With the concept phase completed, Zylak and hired design engineers presented the board with their choice of three concept designs that once built should be sufficient to hold the county’s inmates for the next 15-20 years.

 
Sheriff Zylak   -The Bay Net photo by Sean Rice 

The plans call for an approximate $5 million extension to the current jail facility at the county government compound in Leonardtown, and a $19.5 million new jail that will connect to the current facility by a covered causeway.

The jail rehab would add a 64-head women’s wing on the jail, a new food service area and a new garage receiving area, called a “sallyport” by the sheriff and his group of engineers that were present at the meeting.

The new jail would boost the inmate capacity to near 518 beds, and alleviate crowding concerns in all areas of the jail facility.

Zylak and the designers presented charts that show the inmate population skyrocketing since 2000, when the jails designed capacity of 230 inmates was near being met.

As of last week, Zylak said, there were 358 inmates in custody, although he said that includes the regular “influx of weekenders.”

In the engineer’s concept drawing documents, the population from June 24, 2005 was used, when there were 303 in lockup.

The jail needs the support of a “mini city” one designer said, adding that all segments of the jail are busting at the seems, including food service, administration, support areas, medical facilities, laundry and the inmate property rooms.

According to the facts displayed, 65 percent of the inmates are doing hard time, each with as much as a year inside, with the remaining 35 percent there part-time awaiting court dates.

Decades ago those figures were reversed, it was pointed out Tuesday, and similar numbers are being seen all over the state.

One of the main reasons for the swelling jail population is the increase in alcohol and drug related offenses, Zylak said.

“That’s what drives a lot of the crime, not just in St. Mary’s but every were,” Zylak said, adding he is pondering using part of the new space for substance abuse treatment classrooms.

The state will kick in 50 percent of construction costs for the new facility, if state-laid procedures are followed.

The Board of commissioners had several specific design questions for the sheriff, many f which he diverting answering because specific design is not covered in this concept phase. The design phase is next, followed by construction.

Commissioner Dan Raley (D-Great Mills) asked why the board wasn’t presented with a concept to only construct a larger expansion on the current facility.

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