This 147,000sf project consists of new construction, renovation, and addition to existing buildings on the Pima County Jail Campus. The maximum-security adult detention facility features new amenities contained in a medium-security building with eight pods. Okland crews scheduled their renovation work on the older section of the facility once the new areas were complete. Careful consideration was given to allow for the expansion to take place with minimal impact on the day-to-day operation of the facility. Construction was planned in two phases and included a series of pods for low to medium custody, a lockdown facility, an infirmary, and a mental health unit; this totaled 510 added beds. A new booking/intake area, utilizing the most advanced technological systems such as video arraignment, was designed around an open “pit” to further maximize efficiency.  Other features added include a new centralized public entry, a video visitation area, a new kitchen with all required food service amenities, and a transfer/release tunnel separate from other detention operations. 

This podular facility provides detention services for law enforcement agencies in the metropolitan Tucson area and throughout Pima County. The facility incorporates contemporary concepts in jail design and the use of a direct supervision mode of inmate management. In a direct supervision jail, corrections staff control behavior of the jail population through a pro-active concept.
 
Unlike more traditional re-active containment - utilizing bars, security glass, and other barriers - officers are assigned to work inside each pod in physical proximity to the inmates.