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sidebar - New Jail Planning - NIC Resources

  • document cover for Jail Design Guide: A Resource for Small and Medium-Sized Jails

    Jail Design Guide: A Resource for Small and Medium-Sized Jails

    Addresses architectural design as it relates to functional components of the jail, discusses overall design considerations, and reviews pre-design planning, renovation, construction costs, and facility transition.

  • document cover for Jail Crowding: Understanding Jail Population Dynamics

    Jail Crowding: Understanding Jail Population Dynamics

    Steps involved in developing an understanding of jail population dynamics and factors behind jail crowding are delineated. Sections of this report include: executive summary; how can factors behind jail crowding be identified?; key questions to ask in order to understand jail population dynamics; trends that are driving jail population growth; how to forecast future needs; benefits and elements of an effective analytic process; and elements of the analytic process. Appendixes include: "Preventing Jail Crowding: A Practical Guide" by Robert C...

  • document cover for Jail Design Review Handbook

    Jail Design Review Handbook

    A tool for reviewing conceptual options and schematic designs for new or renovated jails is presented. Five chapters make up this handbook: introduction and overview; the jurisdiction's involvement throughout the planning and design process; how to read architects' drawings; checklists; and conclusion and next steps.

  • document cover for Resource Manual for Transition to a New Jail

    Resource Manual for Transition to a New Jail

    "[T]his resource document will assist agencies starting the process of planning for a successful transition to a new detention facility" (p. iii). Nine chapters comprise this manual: introduction; transitional management; construction; staff/human resources; document development; training and orientation; furniture, fixtures, equipment, and supplies; move logistics; and transition themes of managing change and community relations.

  • document preview for Jail Site Evaluation and Selection

    Jail Site Evaluation and Selection

    Guidance is provided for successfully identifying, evaluating, and selecting jail sites. This bulletin contains the following sections: case study -- why systematic jail site selection is important; the SEQRA (state environmental quality review act) model; preliminary considerations; five-step site selection process; case study -- the cost of overreacting to public concerns; case study -- an example of rural site selection; case study -- an example of jail expansion on an urban site; case study -- a good neighbor by design...

  • document cover for Jails and the Constitution: An Overview

    Jails and the Constitution: An Overview

    This publication "reviews the history of correctional law and summarizes the results and effects of major court decisions" (p. 4). Sections comprising this document include: introduction; history of court involvement; corrections and the Constitution in a new century; the Constitution and the physical plant; understanding Section 1983 lawsuits; how courts evaluate claims -- the balancing test; the First Amendment; the Fourth Amendment; the Eighth Amendment -- overview; the 8th Amendment -- use of force; the 8th Amendment -- medical care...

  • document cover for Jail Planning and Expansion: Local Officials and Their Roles

    Jail Planning and Expansion: Local Officials and Their Roles

    This publication should be the first that elected officials and other policymakers turn to when developing jail facilities--either a new jail or expansion of an existing jail. All the participants’ roles, decisions they make, and the documents resulting from the process are covered.

    Sections of this manual explain:

    • what the facility development process is;
    • who the participants in the decision are;
    • what types of decisions must be made;
    • how much time and money are spent on each phase;
    • and the...

  • document cover for Jail Capacity Planning Guide: A Systems Approach

    Jail Capacity Planning Guide: A Systems Approach

    “This guide helps readers better understand the variables applied in jail capacity forecasting, provides more detail about the development of the jail snapshot (a jail assessment) and case-processing study (an analysis of adjudication decisions and timelines), and offers a framework for assessing key population management strategies across the system” (p. viii). Seven chapters comprise this publication: getting started; system assessment-jail population management strategies; the jail snapshot; case-processing study; jail capacity planning overview; the jai l capacity forecast-a county example; and...

  • broadcast cover for New Jail Planning: Getting It Right

    New Jail Planning: Getting It Right

    This video explores the lessons learned by four communities that built new jails. The communities utilized the four major steps of the Facility Developmental Process model:

    • Determine the need and feasibility;
    • Decide to build, plan operations;
    • Design the jail;
    • And build the jail, plan the transition.