Graham County Jail Comman-der Tim Graver was all smiles Dec. 10 as he presented the jail’s new additions to various dignitaries during its open house.

The Graham County Board of Supervisors joined Santa Cruz Sheriff Tony Estrada and other law enforcement and prison officials on a tour of the new facility.

Graham County Sheriff Frank Hughes was still recovering from being shot while on patrol recently and did not appear at the event. He was released from the Mount Graham Regional Medical Center later that same day.

The jail used innovative ways to incorporate as many beds as they could into the new addition.This three-tiered bunk bed includes a trundle bed that pulls out for an Photo by Jon Johnson

Construction began in April, and the projects were built mostly by jail inmates, with Michael Bejarano serving as the de facto construction leader. Sheriff Hughes previously told the Courier the inmate labor shaved at least $30,000 off the cost of construction.

The addition was built in the jail’s old sally port area, where officers could drive inmates into a secure area before exiting a vehicle. While the addition includes a 32-bed dormitory-style “honor pod,” laundry facilities and a classroom, vehicles can still deliver inmates into the secure area.

Hughes previously said the addition will allow the jail to house its female inmates and not have to pay the costs associated with transporting and holding them in Greenlee County. He said the laundry facility will also save the jail money it spends on sending laundry out to be cleaned.

“This will bring all of our inmates back under our own facility, which is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Hughes said. Graver estimated the addition will cause a positive cash flow of between $225,000 to $250,000 for the jail.

The honor pod will house inmates with good behavior who either perform work for the jail or are in one of its programs – such as attending education classes. Inmates have good incentives to be housed in the honor pod, including many amenities not available in the other units. Some of the amenities include pillows, cold water and telephones that are on 24 hours a day. The inmates are also allowed to watch DVDs on the weekend on a Vizio flat-screen TV and play foosball, according to Graver.

The classroom provides a better learning environment than the jail’s previous makeshift classroom in the sheriff’s conference room. Graver said the jail built the classroom, but all the items in it, including an overhead projector and whiteboard, were donated by Graham County School Superintendent Donna McGaughey and her office.

Graver said the jail will have about 155 beds when the honor pod opens.

Graham County Manager Terry Cooper said the total cost of the new additions was approximately $150,000. Money for the additions was freed up when Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. donated $2 million to the county for the Eighth Avenue bridge project.