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Over the weekend, deputies at the Osage County Jail were forced to empty three pods and move inmates to other parts of the jail because the air system went out. Parts are no longer available for the current system they use and the maintenance department is working to fix the system on a temporary basis. 

With that, a member of the Sheriff’s Office recently told the Board of Osage County Commissioners something needs to be done to find a long-term solution, as 13 of the 16 units are at least 20 years old.

The Sheriff’s Office had come to the Board of Osage County Commissioners requesting that they use ARPA money to go out and pay for these air exchange units. The Board unanimously agreed to do that and will get that process rolling as quickly as possible. A rough estimate to fix the air exchange system is around $360,000.

A bi-product of the poor air quality has been an outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail. With that, Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden was asking Board members to consider using ARPA funds to pay for a portable 911 computer system so that officers or dispatchers would be able to log into the system at any time.

An estimated cost to pay for the computer system is $50,000. Legal counsel said that paying for such a system falls within the use of approved ARPA funds, therefore the Board approved that item as well.