[Scan-DC] Jail House Rock

[Doug K.]

All,

Mtgy County is getting ready to open the new jail up in Clarksburg, giving 
tours this weekend (sorry didn't post this sooner!).

I went up there today... _fascinating_!

I've copied and pasted the press release below, as well as the link to it.

Directions - 270 North to Rt. 121 (Clarksburg), west on 121 and right on 
Whelan Lane, just on the northwest side of the 270/121 interchange.

"Everybody in the whole cell-a-block
Was dancin' to the jailhouse-a-rock!"

Elvis Aaron Fife
Deputy Sheriff

*****************************

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/news/press/DisplayInfo.cfm?ItemID=194



New Montgomery County Jail to Open Soon in Up County; More than 200 
Community Leaders to Participate in Feb. 15-16 Simulated Incarceration
A new correctional facility that is expected to meet Montgomery County?s 
criminal justice needs for the next 25 years is ready to open, following 
more than a decade of planning, community discussions and construction. The 
new $90.4 million Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Clarksburg will 
initially accommodate more than 650 prisoners, with space to house more than 
900, if needed.

The facility will be staffed around the clock by 266 correctional officers, 
security supervisors, correctional program specialists, dietary officers, 
and professional health care and administrative support personnel. Robert 
Green is the warden who will manage the facility, which will house prisoners 
who have been in custody for at least 72 hours and have not made bail or 
been released by a court. In addition to full security services, the new 
jail will offer a wide range of treatment and self development programs, 
along with specialty units for health care, serious mental illness, 
protective custody and other specialized correctional needs.

?Montgomery County correctional facilities have always maintained a high 
degree of security and program services, and have been among the few jails 
in America to receive ongoing national accreditation through the American 
Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health 
Care,? said Arthur M.Wallenstein, director of Montgomery County?s Department 
of Correction and Rehabilitation. ?We are proud of our success in this area, 
and we plan to continue to earn accreditation for our new facility.?

Simulated Incarceration

Before the first inmates are transported to the new jail in the coming 
weeks, a simulated incarceration will be held on February 15 and 16 to help 
train staff at the facility and to educate the community about the jail?s 
security features and its role in rehabilitating the individuals who will 
serve time there.

More than 200 community leaders have accepted invitations to participate in 
the exercise ? arriving at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 15 and departing at 
7 a.m. on Sunday, February 16. During the simulated incarceration, 
participants will receive briefings from the County?s correctional staff on 
jail operations. They will also tour the facility and spend the night in 
regular jail cells during a lockup from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. This will allow 
for the testing of all building systems with real occupants. Participants 
include elected officials from the County Council and County legislative 
delegation, community residents, and national corrections leaders. In 
addition, participants include members of the faith community, business 
community, educators, program volunteers and a wide range of citizens from 
advocacy and social service organizations.

Public Tours

County residents who are interested in visiting the new jail will have an 
opportunity to participate in one of the public tours, to be conducted on 
Saturday, February 22 and Sunday, February 23 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at 
the site, which is located immediately off I-270 at the Clarksburg/Boyds 
Exit (Exit 18).

The guided tours will be conducted by correctional officers and other staff 
members, and anyone who is at the jail by 4 p.m. will be able to complete a 
tour of selected areas of the new state-of-the-art facility. Children under 
age 18 must be accompanied by an adult, and all visitors must undergo a 
security search and pass through a metal detector. Individuals who bring 
with them weapons or weapon-like items that might compromise any of the 
security systems in the new jail will not be admitted.

For information about the public tours, call Correctional Officers Howard 
Copeland or Sabrina Garcia at the new facility, weekdays between 8 a.m. and 
4 p.m., 240-773-9731 or -9730.

Dedication Ceremony

A formal dedication of the new facility will be hosted by County Executive 
Douglas M. Duncan on March 6 for an invited audience that will include 
county and state officials who worked to plan and fund the Montgomery County 
Correctional Facility, along with local residents. The ceremony will give 
Duncan the opportunity to formally thank the officials for their efforts, 
along with the residents who worked with County staff from the mid-1990s to 
plan the facility and respond to a wide range of community requests and 
concerns. Since the jail will be fully locked and in the final stages of 
preparation for accepting its first prisoners in March, the dedication 
ceremony will not be open to the general public.

The new Montgomery County Correctional Facility replaces an aging jail 
located off Seven Locks Road in Rockville that will be renovated over the 
next three years to house and integrate such public safety functions as the 
Central Processing Unit, Pre-Trial Services, Police Department?s Warrant and 
Fugitive Squad and a short-term holding facility for up to 200 offenders.

Construction of the new jail and reuse of the old facility are addressed in 
Resolution 13-356, dated December 5, 1995 ? passed by the County Council and 
supported by the County Executive. The resolution supports a two-jail system 
that maintains the old facility to handle admissions, intakes and releases 
for the County?s more than 14,000 arrests yearly.






_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus