As of Tuesday this week (Aug. 1) the Carroll County jail study committee will begin their work in earnest with a contingent of representatives attending a PONI workshop. PONI stands for Planning Of a New Institution and Carroll County Sheriff, Ken Pingrey, says the group will learn more about the entire process and begin to identify needs through the three-days of meetings.
Members of the committee who will be attending include: Pingrey; Carroll County Supervisors, Gene Meiners and Neil Bock; Carroll County Auditor, Kourtney Irlbeck; head of courthouse maintenance, Zach Niehaus; Carroll County Assessor, Cindy Heuton; Clerk of Court, Linda Frank; and Region XII Council of Governments’ Local Assistance Director, Chris Whitaker. The Sheriff and a supervisor from Dallas County will be in attendance as they recently had their bond referendum pass and will be learning how to proceed with their project. Pingrey adds that Monona County will be on hand also, because they found themselves in a situation similar to what happened after a Carroll County jail inspection.
Bock says he believes that having other counties at the meeting will help with bringing up questions and issues that they may not have yet considered. The need for attention at the jail was brought to light by Iowa’s Chief Jail Inspector, Delbert Longley, after an annual inspection in the spring of 2016. A committee was formed shortly after, and held their first meeting on June 28, 2016, with Longley in attendance to provide recommendations. The group preliminarily discussed ways to manage inmate classifications, such as security risks and transgender status, and on identifying funding options. The group has been touring other facilities to see the results of renovations as well as new construction, and the PONI program was recommended by Longley as a good place to start the process of determining the best option for Carroll County.
