Adair County Jail heralded as one of the best in Iowa

The Adair County Jail has been recognized as one of the best small jails in the entire state.

The Iowa Department of Corrections announced this week that eight counties have been recognized as having top-performing jails.

“This recognition celebrates jails that demonstrate excellence in operations and management, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of both prisoners and staff,” the release read.

Adair and Butler counties received awards as small jails with up to 30 beds; Hamilton and Marion counties were honored as medium-sized jails with 31-100 beds and Dallas and Story counties took home the large jails award. Boone and Muscatine counties accepted awards for showing exceptional improvement.

All Iowa jails undergo a required annual inspection conducted by the DOC to ensure compliance with standards. These inspections include a review of daily jail documentation, a facility tour, interaction with prisoners and an operational review conducted by a DOC inspector.

Iowa is one of 21 states where jail standards are overseen by the state’s department of corrections, and the report said Iowa consistently ranks among the top states for jail management.

Launched in 2017, the “Best of the Best” awards given by the DOC formally recognize exceptional efforts in jail operations.

Although no one single employee works in the jail, its success in Adair County is in large part thanks to Chief Deputy Mike Algreen, Vandewater said, adding his work and dedication to operating the jail are invaluable.

“Of the many and varied responsibilities of the sheriff, I believe operating hte jail to be the most challenging on a day-to-day basis and I think most sheriffs in Iowa would agree,” Vandewater said. “Certainly patrol, investigations, civil, court security, weapons permits, etc., all have their unique challenges, but with the prevalence of mental illness and substance abuse in our jail population, managing and operating a jail is often a difficult and time-consuming task.”