Columbiana – Construction crews at the Shelby County Jail in Columbiana have wrapped up a two-year building project lasting more than two years, adding dozens of specialty beds built specifically for people in mental health crisis or needing serious medical care.
According to Jail Division Commander Denver McCool, the expansion was never about packing in more inmates, rather about finally having somewhere to put people the old facility was never designed to hold. Before the expansion, McCool said the jail lacked a specific place for people who needed close observation, placing them in spaces never intended for people experiencing mental health crises or sitting on suicide watch.
The jail now has an 18-bed mental health unit for people with acute mental illness or on suicide or mental health watch, plus a medical unit adding about two dozen beds for people with more serious health needs.
