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Walls erected for new Bee County Jail

The current facility has been plagued with a series of costly issues almost since it opened nearly 30 years ago.

Beeville (KIII News) — Construction is moving right along in Beeville on a new county jail that will be located right next to the current Sheriff's Office and jail.

The new jail will be able to provide a bigger space to house more inmates.

According to sheriff Alden Southmayd, the current facility has been plagued with a series of costly issues almost since it opened nearly 30 years ago.

"We have a lot of major plumbing issues in the jail that we just can't afford to fix, we are making it work," Southmayd said.

Southmayd and others are excited about the new $25 million facilities paid for through Certificates of Obligation.

The jail is going from a 128-bed facility to 143. The design for the jail will make the big difference in the way the inmates will be housed.

"Its all going to be compact, centrally located, technology changes every day, but up to date, we'll have the latest and greatest technology," Southmayd said.

On Tuesday Southmayd got a tour of the new facility as he checked in on the progress after recent rain caused construction to run a few weeks behind.

"I never realized how much planning had to go into door hinges, windows, its amazing, the electronic doors and so forward, you could have most of your movement done, and not have to have a jailer present, not a good idea, but its built all electronically, every door has a camera so you can see who's there," Southmayd said .

Southmayd believes the end of 2019 summer should complete construction of the jail.

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