Stearns County Jail Renovation is Completed

ST. CLOUD - The renovation of the Stearns County Jail is finished. The remodel of the Stearns County Law Enforcement Center began back in December 2013.

Phase one renovated the first floor to utilize the space vacated in 2009 by the St. Cloud police department. That area was transformed into female housing and the work release unit. The female inmate unit added 11 beds, going from 9 to 20. Moving the work release area to the first floor allowed them to downsize from 60 beds to 12. Most work release inmates now use monitored ankle bracelets.

The second phase began in July of last year, which remodeled the second floor. It added another 29 cells for male inmates. A new video visitation area was also created.

The entire project cost about $4.7 million, $1.2 million under budget. Stearns County saved money by doing some of the work in-house.