A Tough Cell?

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Complications involving the central holding cells at the 1-year-old Dane County Courthouse have given new meaning to the phrase lock-down.

Warping, hinge damage and locking deficiencies were problems discovered on 24 holding cells by Department of Corrections state inspectors in June. The facility has been closed since, complicating court cases and communication for everyone involved.

“It’s been an unfortunate situation because there have been delays caused by the shutdown,” said Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard. “The courthouse was designed with a lot of benefits, some negatives, but this was just a miscalculation.”

Initial Success

Designed to allow quick transfer of inmates, along with the ability for attorneys to consult and advise clients in a timely manner, the cells were effective during the courthouse’s first six months — from January through June of this year.

Sandwiched between courtrooms, the underground holding facility has two secure elevators in which bailiffs transport defendants to their court appearances.

“For the morning schedule, bailiffs would bring over a large number of defendants to the central holding cell in the courthouse,” said Dane County Circuit Court Chief Judge Michael N. Nowakowski. “Someone would radio down and say we need defendant Jones and in a matter of minutes, he would arrive.”

Now, two bailiffs handle a 15- to 20-minute transport of inmates, individually, through tunnels from either the Public Safety Building or City-County Building.

In the meantime, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges are left waiting.

“It’s a time-waster,” stated attorney Edward Krueger, head of the Dane County Bar Criminal Law Section. “The pressure increases on everyone involved and impatience is starting to be noticeable.”

Nowakowski concurred that the current method involves “way too much dead time,” but that there is not much anyone can do, other than adapt.

“Cases cannot proceed without the defendant, so we have no choice but to wait,” said Nowakowski. “In terms of cases heard, they are just getting pushed back through the morning and afternoon hours.”

Losing lunch hours and getting home later are the effects being felt most by attorneys, judges and court staff.

“It’s hard to quantify how much time is actually being lost, but having the client readily available is always a plus,” said Blanchard.

Not a Quick Fix

Initial building plans had called for stronger doors to be installed, but a different model was substituted and everyone involved is paying for the error.

“Someone made a mistake and I’m not here to assess blame, but it’s costing a lot of people time and money,” said Krueger.

Bonnie Hammersley, director of the Dane County Department of Administration estimated costs for the project are $28,000 and Chief Industries of Grand Island, Neb., is the company in charge of the replacement.

The bulk of the cost will be absorbed by allocated county project funds and an undetermined credit from the company originally responsible for installing the doors.

“Because the courthouse was recently constructed, the budget hasn’t been closed out,” said Hammersley. “We held money aside as a contingency in case something needed attention.”

According to both Nowakowski and Krueger, several completion dates have already come and gone, including this past November. Replacement of the doors is now expected to be finished by Feb. 1, 2007.

Krueger noted that after Chief Industries won the project bidding and purchasing orders were placed in August, he heard the job would be completed in late November. The doors have yet to arrive, though they were expected to be delivered to the county before the end of the year.

Once the doors are replaced, a Department of Corrections inspector will need to examine the installations. Provided the doors are up to code and operational by Feb. 1, it will have been over seven months the court was without the central holding facility.

“All I’ll say is that when they fix it, it will work,” said Krueger. “I have to see it to believe it though.”