Cape County OKs security upgrade at jail

At the request of Cape Girardeau County Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson, the County Commission voted Monday to award a $27,900 contract to Benton, Missouri's MHS Enterprises to install a swipe-card door access control system at the county jail, 216 N. Missouri St. in Jackson.

MHS was the only bidder on the project.

Dickerson said the work will be paid out of the building repairs line item already in her budget for the year and will allow jail employees to move more quickly in and out of 14 doors inside the facility -- one of them the 911 center on the jail's top floor.

"That dispatch center door is closed and fully secured at all times but our own employees have had to have physical keys for getting in and out," said Dickerson, the county's top law enforcement official since 2018.

In August, Dickerson told commissioners Clint Tracy, Paul Koeper and Charlie Herbst using hard-copy keys with so much jail traffic in and out was problematic for safety and security.

The sheriff also said for those jail doors with keypad entry, the keypads were "dying" and it was impossible to get replacement parts.

Dickerson said MHS has done work for Cape Girardeau County previously and is familiar with the justice center building.

Other action

The commissioners received two bids for metal culverts for use on various county roads, awarding Monday a $33,168 contract to the low bidder — Jefferson City, Missouri's Metal Culverts Inc.