A new elevator is needed for the older part of the Geary County Detention Center. That is one of the proposed infrastructure improvements outlined by Sheriff Daniel Jackson Jr. this week.

Jackson stated that the company who provides maintenance for the elevator will no longer do so because it should be condemned. “We no longer allow personnel on it for safety reasons. All it’s used for now is moving of food from street level up to the third level where the kitchen is at. There’s 516 meals prepared every day by that kitchen in the jail.”

A proposal is to seal up the old elevator and build a new shaft on the outside of the jail. That could be less expensive than removing the old elevator. This idea is still under evaluation. Asset forfeiture money would be used to pay for the project. No local tax dollars would be involved.