Inside the walls: Technology, personnel highlight behind-the-scenes operation at Shelby County Jail
Located off West College Street in the county seat of Columbiana sits the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and Jail. The 161,192-square-foot facility was paid for in full by the county when it was built in 2004.
Sheriff John Samaniego said he feels it is without a doubt the best jail in the state. It is also the only jail in Alabama that is accredited by the National Institute of Jail Operations an accreditation based on legal precedent.
“This mandates constant due diligence on the part of staff and supervision to keep current with the ever-changing world of legal decisions,” Samaniego said. “All of our professional employees have bought into the philosophy of being the best, treating all inmates with as much respect in which they allow us to treat them.”
The Sheriff’s Office is also accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), and has four major divisions: patrol, criminal investigations, administrative and corrections.
The Sheriff’s Office is the largest law enforcement agency in Shelby County and is led by Samaniego, who is serving in his second term. The corrections division is led by Capt. Russell Bedsole, who has served since July 2018 as Corrections Division Commander of the jail, where 68 officers and support staff run the facility.
“The professional command staff is second to none, and they not only stay on top of all the issues, but are constantly looking for cutting-edge ways to operate more efficiently in the delivery of services,” Samaniego said.
Their mission is to safely and securely administer professional, fair and consistent jail operations. Most people may not know what goes on inside the walls of the jail, but it is a different environment from what is portrayed on television.
“Most people are surprised to find out the jail facility is clean and modern, and behavior and interaction with officers go as well as it typically does,” Bedsole said. “Our officers feel like they can do their jobs in a safe way.”
Those housed at the Shelby County Jail are pre-trial inmates. Bedsole said they include: any adjudicated inmate who has been sentenced in court and is in the process of being transferred to a prison; an inmate who was previously adjudicated but arrested due to a probation violation and being held until they go before a judge; or are sentenced to prison and brought back to the jail to go before the judge on a separate charge or appeal.
The jail also holds pre-trial federal inmates awaiting trial in the federal court system and are responsible for transporting the federal inmates to and from court and to any outside medical appointments.
“We hold all inmates who were arrested on a felony crime that occurred in Shelby County, regardless of which law enforcement agency made the arrest,” Bedsole said. “We hold misdemeanor arrests that are made by officers with Alabaster, Calera, Columbiana, Harpersville, Helena, Montevallo, Pelham and Vincent inside their respective city. By virtue of the contract the city of Chelsea has with the county to provide law enforcement coverage to the corporate city limits of Chelsea, all Chelsea inmates are housed in the Shelby County Jail.”
The facility itself, maintenance staff and IT are all supplied and paid for by the county. Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock said the Shelby County Commission’s top priority has consistently been public safety and the county adult jail is one of their key assets.
“I am truly blessed that the County Commission has given me such a fantastic jail to maintain, and we have such incredible employees who work every day and night running it,” Samaniego said.
Bedsole added “that partnership has been valuable to maintain a facility that functions and operates like it did day we opened it.”
ENTERING THE JAIL
Upon entrance to the jail from the administrative side, three women staff the central communications office for 12 hours each day. Their responsibilities include answering all non-emergency calls; remotely opening perimeter gates and doors inside the jail; monitoring internal security cameras for inmates on precautionary watch and at prescribed times; and observing inmates in their cells and logging what they are doing.
“The central communications officers work overlapping eight hour shifts that cover from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.,” Bedsole said. “When the central communications officers are not on duty, central control is staffed with at least one corrections officer to fill all the same functions except answering non-emergency phone calls.”
TECHNOLOGY
One of the most important aspects of the jail is the technology. Once an inmate is brought into the jail, their first stop is the full body scanner. This valuable tool is intended to intercept contraband before it enters the facility. The process only takes about 10 to 15 seconds and scans for any drugs or weapons that may be hidden in body cavities.
If the inmate has evidence of being under the influence of alcohol, a digital breath alcohol test (or Draeger Breath Test) is administered. The instrument comes from the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, and the results can be used for evidentiary purposes.
Gone are the days of ink stamps for fingerprints. They are now scanned digitally and used to verify the inmate’s identity. Those fingerprints are then entered into the state database and used for comparison purposes if a crime occurs in the county and also to verify the correct person is being released. Their mugshot is then taken in front of the blue background and will be displayed on the jail’s website, inmatelisting.shelbyal.com.
Inmates are held in one of the 12 booking cells until they are classified. Once they are assigned a spot, they are given their setup of a mattress, two sheets, one blanket, one towel, one washcloth, one roll of toilet paper, a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap and taken to their designated cell.
With more than 270 cameras throughout facility, views are duplicated throughout so more eyes can keep watch. The camera system helps to offer a secure and safe facility for both inmates and personnel inside the jail.
All the doors are electronically controlled by touch screens, which allow the operator to open and close them with the touch of a finger.
Throughout the facility, tags are mounted outside of each cells that are equipped with RFID technology. Officers use scanners and walk around at prescribed intervals to check on inmates inside their cells. RFID chips are also placed into wristbands worn by inmates that can also be scanned.
“This allows us to log where inmates are anytime in the building,” Bedsole said. “If they need to be relocated, we can scan and make the movement right there on the spot.”
VIRTUAL COURTROOM
All inmates have a right to a hearing arraignment within their first 72 hours in jail. Through video technology, the jail’s virtual courtroom provides a point to point video conference between the jail and the courthouse so inmates to be formally advised of their charges by the court without ever having to leave the jail. These hearings take place three times per week.
“This allows us to not have to move inmates outside the facility but to be able to still adhere to what the law says as far as having hearing documents recorded and saved on the courtside and the inmate obtaining a copy,” Bedsole said.
COMMUNICATION
A kiosk system allows inmates access to services such as making a sick call request, the ability to submit a grievance or order from the commissary if they have funds.
Physical mail is no longer allowed to reach the inmates but is instead checked and scanned for them to view on the kiosk screen for up to 90 days. One exception is legal mail, which is inspected and handed to them to read and then taken back.
“We now scan mail because of trends of paper being soaked in narcotics and when hand-delivered to inmates, they would use it to become under the influence,” Bedsole said. “The mail is put into the inmates personal property and given to them when they are released.”
Inmates can send emails through the kiosk for a per-use fee that is roughly the price of a postal stamp. This gives them another way to communicate with family or friends. Video calls are also an option and are limited to 15 minutes at a time.
There is also no face-to-face visitation at the Shelby County Jail. Instead, family or friends can reserve an appointment online and come to the jail once a week at their specified time for a 30- minute video call. Bedsole said by limiting contact, it prevents contraband from entering the facility. Reservations can be made online and approved 24 hours in advance.
The County Commission recently provided funding for voice biometrics software, which works with the jail’s phone system and continuously monitors all phone calls placed by inmates. It can positively detect individual voices, identify who is logged into phone system and also search for keywords, contraband movements or plans to commit crime inside or outside the jail. A transcription of each phone call is created, and investigators can use those during a trial to get a conviction on a case.
SUPERVISION
The jail consists of an A pod and B pod, with half the population in one and half in the other. An officer in a tower has a 360 degree view of each area. Men and women inmates are separated, with women making up less than 20 percent of the total jail population.
A centrally located officer sits in a tower and is able to indirectly supervise a large group of the population with a 360 degree view of the facility.
“This is how we run the jail with less staff,” Bedsole said. “Good technology and design of this building.”
Bedsole attributes the high degree of professionalism and respect given to the inmates as a huge part of the success of the jail.
FOOD
The jail is equipped with an industrial kitchen that serves around 1,500 meals each day. Jason Johnston is the civilian kitchen manager, a position that is funded through a partnership with Shelby County. In his 11 years, Johnston has found ways to buy in bulk to save money. Each inmate’s meals cost $2.25 per day, or 75 cents per meal.
The menu is planned and certified by a licensed dietitian who meets with the jail command staff once each quarter to certify each meal meets the nutritional standard of between 2,200-2,500 calories a day. A monthly menu is posted on the jail website, and digital photographs of meal trays are taken to ensure accountability. Meals are also frozen for seven days so they can be tested in case anyone gets sick.
Nine to 10 inmate workers prep and cook the meals, and an officer is present to ensure it is done correctly to maintain high standards. All inmate workers go through a training program specific to kitchen operations. In the past several years, all of the original kitchen equipment has been replaced by the County Commission.
MEDICAL
The jail features an internal medical unit with a four-person staff of three nurses and a medical assistant. There is a nurse onsite 24 hours per day, a feature that many jails do not have. Their contract service with Southern Health Partners brings in a physician once per week.
To keep sickness from spreading, the medical unit features three reverse airflow cells, each with two doors. In between the doors is a small transition room equipped with a handwashing station and ventilation to draw out any potential airborne illnesses out of the facility and reducing potential for contamination to others.
Bedsole said the benefit of the nursing and medical staff is they can recognize certain conditions and issues and make referrals with an outside specialists or immediate transport to the hospital if necessary.
“We want to make sure [our inmates] receive the best quality of care while they are incarcerated,” he said. “It is a credit to our partnership with the sheriff’s office and the County Commission providing funding that we have such a high level of quality medical care.”
A new piece of technology to the jail is using an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) program. According to the nurse supervisor, it will allow the medical staff to better care for the inmates and track them medically in a way they have never been able to do in the past.
The software interfaces with the Jail Management System and can directly communicate with the pharmacy provider to make obtaining medications much faster. Their doctor can also log in remotely and review a patient’s chart if necessary.
MENTAL HEALTH
Another focus of the Shelby County Jail is the inmates’ mental health. Thanks to a working relationship with Central Alabama Wellness, formerly Chilton-Shelby Mental Health Center, they provide three trained mental health care workers who deliver services to the inmates seven days a week.
While separated in different rooms by a glass partition, it allows them to talk freely. About 20 percent of the inmate population is seen by mental health, either those who have a history or were seeing someone before they got to the jail, or inmates can request an appointment with them. They also offer substance abuse therapy in group settings.
EDUCATION
Adult education classes are available, and two instructors come in multiple times each week to meet with inmates and teach a career readiness program.
Inmates have to request to participate in the classes and are screened to see if they are eligible to participate in program.
INTELLIGENCE
Bedsole said a recently constituted jail intelligence unit was started at the Shelby County Jail. Several officers volunteered to participate in the program and are working to catch crimes before they make it to jail.
“In September and October, we made more contraband arrests in those two photos than we did the entire year. I have asked our officers to be focused on factors around us affecting the jail, and one of those was contraband coming from outside.”
The revenues received from housing federal inmates enables the county to invest additional funds toward COMPACT 2020, Behavioral Health Services for children and adolescents, and the justice-involved services offered by Shelby County Community Corrections.
“Sheriff Samaniego has consistently partnered with the County Commission, and we have collectively used all available assets to increase services to our residents,” Dudchock said.