Sheriff's office moves into jail

FRANKLIN COUNTY - The move into the new jail is finally complete.

Franklin County Sheriff Larry Plott said department officials have spent the past few days moving the offices from the old jail in the county courthouse to the new $9.2 million, 32,000-square foot jail and administration complex at the intersection of Walnut Gate Road and Herring Cross Road. The new facility was built on a 30-acre tract between Alabama 243 and U.S. 43.

"This has been a long time in coming," Plott said Tuesday. "There were times I wondered if we could get to this point, and there have been some bumps in the road, but we're finally here."

The new jail is going to replace a 70-year-old structure in downtown Russellville, the second oldest operating facility in the state. The state's oldest operating jail is in South Alabama.

"We've been working with a ticking time bomb, trying to get something done before we come under a federal court order to build a new facility," Plott said.

County officials said the new facility is designed to house 150 inmates. The current facility is certified to house 56 inmates, but county officials said there is routinely more than 100 housed in the jail.

Plott said the move was almost overwhelming.

"We actually started the process weeks ago. We had to have the computer systems up and running before we could move in, and then the actual move of the prisoners had to be quick," the sheriff said. He said jail officials moved around 80 inmates Monday.

For the most part, everything is out of the old jail and the administration offices, which were inside the courthouse.

"This is a true annex; any business that deals with the sheriff's office, from pistol permits to incident reports, will be conducted at the new facility," Plott said.

Now the question is what to do with the old structure.

"That's something that will be decided by the commission," said Franklin County Commission Chairman and Probate Judge Barry Moore. "Right now, we're still trying to decide what to do, we'd like to be able to tear it down and make a parking lot out of it."

He said the vacant office space within the courthouse will be utilized by other offices.

"Room in the courthouse is a premium," Moore said. "We'll do some rearranging and utilize it so it will best serve the public."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@timesdaily.com.