New Pods Opened at Laramie County Jail to Help Mentally Ill

To better care for mentally ill inmates, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office has opened new male and female "special management" pods in the jail, the first of their kind in Wyoming.

Nearly Half Have a Mental Health Disorder

According to Public Information Officer Brandon Warner, 49% of the inmates housed at the Laramie County Detention Center have some level of mental health disorder and 11% have a severe condition.

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"Unfortunately, due to the lack of community resources and a backlog at the State Hospital, the responsibility for caring for these individuals, who have been charged with a crime, falls onto the Sheriff’s Office," Warner said in a news release. "This is not only an issue here locally but is an issue for jails across the country."

Warner says one of Sheriff Brian Kozak's goals when coming into office was to improve the jail’s capabilities in managing inmates with mental health disorders or in suicide crisis.

An Obvious Need

"We previously were not set up to easily care for some of the extreme cases that were being brought into the detention center," said Warner. "The need for Special Management Units was obvious."

Warner says prior to constructing the pods, detention leadership consulted with mental health professionals from Cheyenne and outside the state. They also toured other jails to get design ideas and learn best operational practices.

"The pods are designed to improve safety by creating secure areas where inmates can go from their cells to showers, dayrooms or the rec yard without having physical access to others," said Warner.

"The design, such as the cityscape mural painted in the rec yard, encourage inmates to comply with the rules and take their medication to have access of these areas," Warner added. "The pod has a calming atmosphere, which should reduce violent outbursts from those in crisis and reduce suicide attempts."

With the pods, Warner says inmates will be seen by both mental health and medical staff daily.

"Mental health, medical, and security staff will work collectively, have weekly meetings, and discuss each inmate," he said. "Treatment plans will be created, and progress is tracked with the goal of transitioning inmates into general housing or connecting them to community resources upon release."

Something Special

"Sheriff Kozak feels we have met our goal of creating something special that will help our deputies and the individuals we house while reducing recidivism," Warner added. "The inmates to be housed in the pods have been selected and will be moved into the pods in the next several days."