T-L Photos/MIRANDA SEBROSKI Correction officers give a tour of areas where inmates will spend their time having breakfast, lunch and dinner at the new Monroe County Correctional Facility.

WOODSFIELD — Most people do all they can to avoid spending a day in jail, but that was not the case in Monroe County on Saturday.

The doors of the new Monroe County Correctional Facility were opened to the public with county commissioners and law enforcement officers giving a tour of the new structure to any interested residents of the community. After the tour was over, attendees enjoyed refreshments, and there were activities for the children who were present.

The new facility features a $180,000 system to check inmates to sure they aren’t concealing anything illegal when they enter and are booked into the facility.

“We are going to make sure they are cooperative with us when met with our correction officers for booking. After that, we will run them through the body scanner. Once we find out the body scan came back negative, we will send them on their way,” Lt. Rick Shipp said of future inmates. “If the scan comes back positive, we have to get a warrant for it and send them to the hospital to get it extracted. Then, we can charge them with conveyance, which is a felony.

“If they start to act up, we have a cell to put them in that is airlock tight until they calm down,” he continued. “We can also put people in there who have medical issues or those who are on suicide watch.”

The inmates will have access to an outside recreation area and to a dining area where they will eat a cold breakfast and two hot meals each day. The facility also features a section for female inmates, capable of housing 30 women at a time.

Because the facility will house inmates of both genders, the officers know what precautions to take to ensure everyone is treated fairly and that no questions of improper conduct arise. When a male officer enters the female section, it will be documented to make sure no illegal activity is going on.

Another section of cells is reserved for mentally ill inmates who need special care or who cannot be around other inmates. The correction officers will be trained next week to administer medication to inmates, but there will be a nurse on staff 30 hours a week to deal with mental health issues. As more inmates are booked in, the hours of the nurse on staff can increase.

The sheriff’s department also provided fun facts about the facility to those who were touring. In total, 70,000 concrete masonry units were laid during construction. the facility includes 32 miles of wire and 27,000 pieces of utility brick. Workers invested 54,336 hours in building and equipping the facility.

The $15.5 million, state-of-the art facility will also house the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department. The county previously had no operational jail to house those charged with a crime and sentenced in county courts. Therefore, the county was forced to transport all inmates to jails in Noble, Washington and Jefferson counties and house them there at a cost of at least $60 per day.

The new 114-bed facility is divided into four housing units with one central control area. It has a large industrial kitchen, laundry, a detoxification area for inmates, a special needs area for inmates, a visitation area, a medical area, several holding cells and a commissary. The facility also has a “sally port” intake area — a secured garage area for vehicles.