Fremont County Sheriff Ryan Lee has shared for several months that the Fremont County Detention Center has been managing overcrowding issues. During Sheriff Lee’s monthly update at the Fremont County Commissioners’ meeting last week, he shared they have been seeking quotes on turning single beds at the center into bunk beds.
Yesterday, February 18th, the Fremont County Commissioners approved a quote of $15,143.78 from Weld Pro, LLC to fabricate, retrofit, paint and install 16 beds on top of already existing single beds at the facility. The Detention Center does not currently have bunk beds, and the majority of them will be placed on the women’s side, Sheriff Lee noted. They plan to place two on the men’s side for now and if the need arises they can be moved.
The money for the beds will come out of the “Detention Center Trust Fund,” shared Maintenance Supervisor JR Oakley. A few items that were in the 2020 budget plan have been delayed, and items already purchased from the budget plan were at a lower cost than expected.
The manufacturing of the beds is supposed to take about a week and a half, JR noted, and their installation at the facility is expected to take a few days.
These additional beds will help lower the amount of money being paid to out of county detention facilities for housing Fremont County inmates. As of last week, they were over budget by 11.6% on contractual services due to these payments.