SAVING SELMA: Dallas Co. Jail repairs making slow progress

From the West Alabama Newsroom–

The tornado that hit Selma on January 12th — tore the roof off the Dallas County Jail — flooding the facility — and causing extensive damage inside the building.

Now officials say part of the facility — is nearly ready to reopen.

Crews continue to hammer away — at making repairs to the Dallas County Jail.

“Of course the Juvenile Detention Center is connected to the Dallas County Jail. We expect the Detention Center to be up and running in the next couple of weeks,” said Sheriff Mike Granthum.

However, the damage the tornado caused to the jail section of the facility was far more extensive.

“When the roof got torn off, water came in. So, a lot of the electrical components were damaged. Our cameras are electrical. Even our doors are operated electrical. Everything we do in there is electrical. Our computer systems are electrical. We lost all that.”

Granthum says a lagging supply chain — is slowing down the repair process at the jail — in addition to governmental procedures.

“When I say that, no fault to the you know, the commission or the contractor or anything. It’s we’re having problems getting some of the electrical panels,” Granthum said.

“I talked to one of the electricians and he actually said, if we order this particular panel, it’s 18 months before we get it. We also got to go about the bid process. You know, you got to advertise for a month. You gotta do this, you gotta do that. So, we’re doing it by the law.”

Granthum says it could be more than a year — before the jail is fully back up and running — and housing inmates.

About 130 inmates had to be removed from the jail following the tornado.

They remain housed in other jail facilities.