The Growing Inmate Count: A Daily Dilemma

Kitchen

Designed to serve a much smaller population that demanded less than 2,000 meals a day, the Kitchen now serves more than 4,000 meals per day. This can result in delays, food shortages, and challenges in maintaining nutritional needs — essential for inmates' health.

Laundry Facilities

Critical for ensuring hygiene and reducing health risks, the laundry facilities are nearing capacity. The service now sees a constant backlog, leading to delays in providing clean linens and uniforms.

Warehousing Unit

This houses essential supplies, from toiletries to food supplies, and is now at capacity most days. The constrained space is not only an organizational issue but also limits efficient purchasing, creates a potential risk of running out of critical supplies in large quantities, and limits the ability to achieve savings.

Jail’s Intake, Booking, and Property Room

These were built in 1995 when the jail population was approximately 450. These areas now serve a population of approximately 1,000 inmates. These areas are now also beyond their designed capacity.

On any given day, the Ada County Jail finds itself housing more inmates than it was designed to accommodate operationally. This strains not only the physical infrastructure but also the jail's human resources.