Road construction on U.S. Highway 81 is not the only project in Kingfisher suffering delays caused by Mother Nature.

The new Kingfisher County jail was initially set to open this year, according to Sheriff Dennis Banther.

As a consequence of delays caused by rain and tornadoes, the jail is now slated to open in the first quarter of next year, said Banther.

Forty percent of the project has been completed.

Rain has not been the only thing hindering productivity.

Earlier in the year, a tornado hit an El Reno hotel where many members of the jail’s construction crew were staying.

“Thankfully no one died, but several people on the crew left and went back home which slowed the process,” said Banther.

Despite a setback in construction, payments for the jail are ahead of schedule.

The Kingfisher County Criminal Justice Authority has been speaking with the bank and plans to make all payments for the jail as soon as possible, according to Banther.

“We are way ahead of schedule,” he said. “It is supposed to be an $11 million project and we already have almost $6 million of it paid.”

Half of that $6 million is from the general fund from the county commissioners. The remaining $3 million is from the past six months taxes.

“We are exploring possibilities to pay off the debt early,” said Kyle Glazier, president of the KCCJA. “No decision has been made yet, but that is a bridge we are crossing. We want to do what is in the best interest of the taxpayers.”

“We should have $9 million by December and may be able to pay it off in full before we even set foot inside of the facility in March,” added Banther.

During their meeting, members of the authority also agreed on alterations, including changes to kitchen equipment, that will knock $50,000 off of the expenses, Banther said.

“The sheriff has been very diligent about going through and picking out what we don’t need,” said Glazier. “He wants to use the taxpayers’ money for necessities, not luxuries.”

While the project has remained on budget thus far, a recent discovery is adding to the cost.

“There is not enough water flow for the fire hydrants, so we have been taking bids to build a fire line loop,” said Glazier.

Currently, the jail has 40 beds. That number will increase to 100 beds in the new location.

It will also feature medical isolation beds, general isolation beds, and segregation for maximum and minimum security inmates.

The medical room will feature a reverse filtration system.

With the increase in facility size will come an increase in staff size.

Currently there are nine full time employees and there will be 20 when the new jail opens, said Banther.

“We wanted to do our due diligence to build the best facility we could with the funds that we had,” said Glazier.

“We spent a lot of time thinking about the future,” added Banther. “We wanted to account for every situation we could.”

New features will include a control pod with direct supervision of all of the cells as well as a touch screen access control panel for the doors.

“There will also be a courtroom in the new facility and an audio-video connection to the main courthouse,” said Banther.

That set up will allow inmates to make routine court appearances without having to be transported to and from the courthouse.

Access to plumbing is located behind the cells so if it needs worked on it can be accessed without entering the cell.

“I think it is going to be a really nice jail,” said Glazier. “My fear is that we will finish building it and then it will be full.”

The jail will also include an outdoor recreational area for inmates.

“Federal regulations require that we allow the inmates one hour of outdoor recreational time,” said Banther.

“Currently, inmates can see into the parking lot which can cause issues with people yelling and honking horns,” he said. “There will be a two-story brick wall surrounding the rec area so they can see up but not out and the top will also be covered by a mesh screen.”

Emergency management will also be moving to the new facility.