2017 Fall Newsletter

The Present Jail As the years passed, the old brick jail began to deteriorate with an increased cost of operation. As the population of Miami County and surrounding counties increased; so did the old brick jails population. By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the planning process began for the building of new modern jail. On February 12th 1965 representative of the State Civil Defense Department met with the County Commissioners to dis cuss Federal Aid which could be used to assist in the building of the basement for the new jail building. On March 22, 1965 the County Commissioners met with architects and planners to begin the process of drawing plans for the construction of a new jail. On June 14th 1965 the County Commissioners were presented a feasibility study which rec ommended the Commissioners levy a tax of not more than one (1) mill for the financing of a new jail. The estimated cost of a proposed 13,460 square foot building was set at $214,717 ($1,639,062) or $15.96 per sq ft ($121.77). After numerous meeting, the County Commissioners gave notice to proceed with the drawing of the final plans for the jail on September 3, 1965. The final plans were approved on January 7th 1966. On September 9, 1966 the County Commissioners opened sealed bids for general obligation bonds in the amount of $190,000. The bonds were sold to a combined bid of Miami County banks with a net interest of $30, 352.50. On April 4, 1967 the County Commissioners authorized the removal of the old brick jail as soon as the new jail was com pleted and occupied. May 26th 1967 was the day of the open house for the new jail. Final inspection was made on June 1 and the Commissioners met in their new Commissioner’s room in the jail building on June 30, 1967. The present jail has served Miami County for the past fifty years. During that period there has been two jail escapes. Janu ary 12, 1989, is the date of the first attempted or actual escape from the present Miami County Jail. I was unable to locate any newspaper account of this event The Miami County Republic reported on the evening of January 13, 1994 Jailer Ed Koon was supervising two inmates on clean-up detail when at approximately 7:20 p.m., “one of the inmates took a cast-iron skillet and hit Koon on the head.” After being hit on the head, “Koon was then handcuffed and left in the kitchen.” “The inmates, “Craig A. Walker, 18, Osawatomie, and Clarence H. Brockert, 26, Warsaw, Mo., fled the jail through the back door, using a set of keys they took from Koon.” In order to further their escape both stole cars in Paola and fled the immediate area. The Miami County Sheriff’s Office implemented their protocol in the event of a jail break. Local and area law enforcement were notified, the railroads were called and requested to speed up their trains going through Paola and area residents were notified by breaking in on local television programing. News of the escape spread quickly throughout Miami County and adjacent counties. Clarence Brockert was captured in the area of the Paola Cemetery at approximately 9:08 p.m. and Craig Walker was cap tured shortly after 11:00 p.m. in the vicinity of the Miami County Sanitary Landfill after he drove through a road block south of Paola and lost control of the stolen car. A new modern jail is under construction at this writing. There was a grand opening ceremony during the first week of No vember 2017. * http://www.davemanuel.com/inflation-calculator.php (Converts to 2015 $)

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