Officials cut 'ribbon' on new Adams County Jail

HASTINGS, Neb. – A day that’s been in the making for seven whole years is finally here.

The new Adams County Jail is finally complete and ready to provide some much needed relief to county officials that have had problems with the current jail for years.

The old cells are just terrible," said Adams County Commissioner Harold Johnson. "They're nothing like modern-day cells, they're like old cells way back in the western days."

It’s probably actually easier to tell you what isn't wrong with the current old and outdated jail in downtown Hastings.

The topic of building a new Justice Center facility first arose in 2017. Then, the Adams County Sheriff's Office and an architect firm released a 70-page report citing dozens of needs to move on from the current building that’s been in service since 1962, and has seen little renovations since then.

The new jail began construction in April 2022 thanks to a $38 million bond issue narrowly passed by Adams County voters in 2020.

Unforeseen delays and setbacks delayed the opening date by almost six months. 

Now, the once idea has become reality.

"It's very exciting, but yet it's almost overwhelming," said Adams County Sheriff John Rust. "The support we've had from the public and the citizens to get to this point, it's been amazing."

New benefits of the jail include space for 154 inmates, which is over 100 more than the current facility.

Those inmates can also now be women, who by law could not be housed in the existing jail. The Sheriff's office says that will make everyone’s lives a little easier and will save county taxpayers some money.

"By having this facility, it will allow us to be able to house everyone here, and not be contracting with other agencies to where we have added security risks, and the cost of transporting back and forth to court." said Rust.

According to the contractor, Beckenhauer construction, the entire building is 49,400 square feet.

The Adams County Commissioners don’t have a firm price tag on the soon to be finished product, but estimate the total around $35 million dollars, three million less than the 2020 bond issue amount.

"It feels wonderful," said Johnson. "It takes a lot of stress off of us commissioners that we didn't have before."

Officials say while the ribbon, or handcuffs have been cut, the jail won't begin housing inmates for another few months.

Staff still needs to trained, and finishing touches and inspections must happen before the jail will be fully functional.