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Show Wednesday, iwiwMiiirrrr rr open house. It was a busy three days at as thousands of people toured the facili- - f wmmmmmmmrn FOREMAN, Shane Gardner Robert Money get a feel of their CONSTRUCTION and architect creation as they are placed behind bars during the the jail jail September 25, 1985 Vernal ExftfCSS 1 3 M ty THE VISITORS phones are given a try by Donna Stewart and Deputy Gary DeBoms. There is no visitor contact at the new correctional facility Open house By Merle Young Express Society Editor A strong emotional shock rippled through the brave few who voluntarily spent Friday night m the new Uintah County Correctional Facility (County Jail) At the invitation of the county, this handful of private citizens gave up a night of freedom to experience the feeling of being incarcerated SHERIFF STEWART and Marianne Morton for the overnight prisoners. They were put through the booking procedure that requires answering a number of personal questions and then were assigned a cell The fingerprinting was put off because the mugging and printing room was not comthe However, pletely stocked prisoners were told exactly how and what took place there Although threatened with it, they wei e also spared the strip search and delousmg processes for similar reasons, which brought a chorused sigh of relief. prepare breakfast The temporary prisoners also toured the stark, cold drunk tank and the facility for holding mentally deranged or violent inmates None were willing to remain in these places any longer than it took to com- plete the tour At about 10 30 p m , after sharing a few minutes of nervous small talk, the interim inmates were led to their cells through a series of slamming and locking heavy metal doors The heat was not on in the jail and the cold added to the morose feeling of the facility Arriving at the cell blocks, the prisoners were taken through two more of the ominous sounding doors that locked securely behind them and finally, after entering their assigned cells, the last door was locked. They remained there to wait it out until 7 a m. Inside the cell was a small bar of soap, a towel, a wool blanket, one white sheet, a paper cup and a roll of toilet paper. These were the entire amenities to the concrete room In one corner off to the side of the door was a commode and a small THE PANCAKE BREAKFAST prepared with the Sheriff's special recipe was the only good thing that happened to those who spent the night in the new jail. basin with a polished metal mirror above it set into the concrete wall If you were as tall as Wilt Chamberlain you could use the mirror The top of your hair was visible if you stood on the edge of the push button toilet A concrete slab sticking out of the wall with a thin, hard mattress makes up the jails version of a Serta Perfect Sleeper A smaller slab serves as a desk-tabl- e and a little metal shelf with two break away hooks is the entire wardrobe closet and storage area for personal belongings. A tiny slit of a window is embedded in the wall above the bunk near the ceiling By folding the mattress into four parts on top of the bunk and standing on it, you can barely peek outside The acoustics in the concrete structure cause the slightest sound to be magnified and echoed through the cell block. Flushing toilets, cleared throats, coughs, whispers or turning over on the plastic covered mattress can be heard by every prisoner in the block Sleeping in the jail takes a master Not only are the sounds and discomfort of the bed constant reminders of your surroundings, but the lights are left on so you may be observed by the jailer throughout the night Every hour on the hour, the cell block doors are opened and slammed shut and the jailer tromps upstairs and down and looks m on every prisoner. The sleepless night gave the temporary prisoners a chance to think about the loss of freedom, privacy and control of ones life that goes with incarceration This and other feelings experienced in the jail were discussed by the group at a pancake breakfast prepared by the sheriff at mental turnoff Not one of those who spent the night in jail wanted a repeat performance As one of them said, If I am ever arrested and I have to stay in jail, please just shoot me at the door CONTROLLER, Cindy Collaso and Officer Friendly (Lee with McGruff, England) place a bunch of Central Elementary School students in a holding cell during the open house. One little boy said staying in jail would be better than going to school and another insisted that his dad spend the night in jail with him because he had been given a "Get in Jail Free" card which were passed out to visitors as keepsakes More than a thousand students came to the jail open house last Friday Behind Bars Gone LINDA STEGER AND Norma Bowmen are booked into are all your belongings, your privacy and hopes and dreams Theyve pried into your deepest thoughts by legal ways and means Someone observes you constantly like a bug trapped in a jar and life outside the prison walls seems distant as the stars Deathly silence echos and re echos through the cell, while an ominous presence hangs around you like a cold mist out of hell The jail smells are rude and course, no softness is in here Alone, alone and lonely with thoughts controlled by fear. Black ink stains your fingernails, smells of lysol in your hair Rough clothes are pulled around your stiff and scratchy underwear Sleep is slow in coming I wonder what my mom is thinking A tear slides down, then another I feel my spirit sinking FOR THE FIRST time in the history, the Curley Cues Square Dance Club danced in a jail. Here, square dancers Don and Pat Griggs try to get dance caller Fred Brown out of the clutches of Sheriff Stewart. jail by The nights run into days blurred by sorrow and wondering endlessly The time runs together and compounds the constant misery The pleas m my eyes are never voiced to ask for special things Finally The day has come, the jailer says, and open my door swings I look too back over my shoulder at the familiar room ever will gloom. I Never, I vow, not forget that damnable I winder as I leave the jail if people see that I have changed Will I live with everlasting guilt now my lifes all rearranged Today the air is fresh and crisp I see grass, trees and clouds galore My soul becomes one with the world as I hear the slam of the prison door llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllliilllllllllllllllllllllllllllll reserve officer Jeri Cantu i JANETTE AND KRIS Porritt arrive at the jail in prison stripes and present Sheriff Stewart a copy of their warrants for arrest. Kris is a recent graduate of POST and will be working for the County Sheriffs Department as does Janette who is a X |