MERRILL, Wis. (WSAU) – Lincoln County's new work release unit is open, and the county is looking for inmates to put there.
Jail administrator Dave Manninen says the Huber Unit is a renovation of the old county jail, modified to allow for complete control remotely so that officers don't have to physically walk inmates to and from their cells every day.
The new system is dormitory based, allowing for greater freedoms for inmates that have earned the privileges to work during the day. Manninen says inmates know that once they've got the ability to stay in the Huber section that they should try to hold on to it. Any infraction or failure to return to the unit at night could result in being sent back to the controlled environment of the rest of the jail.
One thing the county hasn't seen, however, is a rush of inmates to fill the jail. Lincoln County built the new facility hoping that they'd attract inmates from other counties that are over crowded, but populations are low right now, and the Huber unit is only at one-fifth capacity. Manninen says he can't predict when other counties might be sending out their inmates, but that they'll make contracts with other counties when they ask for them.
