MADISON, Wis. — The Dane County Sheriff’s Office will shut down a portion of its City-County Building jail due to safety and staffing concerns.
Sheriff Kalvin Barrett announced the closure in a press release Tuesday. The county will close the east section of the seventh floor of the City-County Building, the oldest area of the jail. The approximately 65 men and women housed in the section will be moved to jails in Rock, Iowa and Oneida counties.
Residents will begin moving today, however, county officials could not give an exact day as to when the section would be completely emptied out.
“A lack of safe and humane jail space, along with ongoing staffing shortages, has brought us to the difficult decision to place some of our jail residents in other counties,” Barrett said. “I will continue to advocate for a facility to be built in Dane County which reflects our community values.”
The decision to close the section comes almost six years after a study found that the county “should not consider extending the life of the CCB Jail, but should work towards getting out of the building with due haste.”
The Sheriff’s Office will hold a hiring opportunity to address its staffing shortage. Officials said that the county is operating at over 40 deputy positions under optimal levels.
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