A week after two consultants declared Rock County's jail conditions as " awful " and possibly unconstitutional, residents were given a chance to survey the facility for themselves.
Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden opened the jail for public inspection on Thursday night, and tried to set the record straight early on in the tour. Spoden says awful was a big word to use to describe the jail. He assured the public that they work to provide a clean environment, despite the facility facing overcrowding issues. The facility is clean, but crowded, with bathrooms used for medical storage, inmates double bunked, and linens stored in hallways.
Janesville Craig High School student Kelsey Riegert was among those on the tour. She says it didn't appear as bad as what was reported in the media.
However, some were more skeptical of what police were showing them. Rex Putney of Janesville says the public was mainly seeing only what officials want them to see. Still, he was impressed with what the county is doing with the resources it has available.
AUDIO: WCLO's Beth Wheelock reports (MP3 :52)
