That's the message Jeff Heffelfinger, architect for Southwest Architects and project director for the construction of the bond-financed project, delivered to Howard County commissioners Monday morning, a stark contrast to the years of variances and second-chances granted to the existing jail since the 1970s.

“We've passed jail inspection. It's done,” Heffelfinger told commissioners triumphantly. “We now have a letter from the (Texas) Jail Commission that commissions the jail.”

Construction of the $11.57 million facility began last year following a November 2007 bond election that drew voter approval.

County officials won't have long to enjoy the small victory, however, as the move-in process begins soon, according to Heffelfinger.

“The sheriff has a long process in front of him,” said Heffelfinger. “The move-in process is going to take some time. And, once the move-in is complete, they will decommission the old jail. That usually happens about 45 to 60 days after the move-in. Now I know he (Sheriff Stan Parker) is moving inmates in, but we have some official steps that we will be required to perform that will take the old jail out of service.

“Also, the city of Big Spring has issued us our temporary CO (certificate of occupancy). Now, the final CO will not be issued until our parking lot is completed,” said Heffelfinger. “That is our only remaining item, as of today. They were waiting for our jail inspection, which we completed, and we talked to city officials this morning and they agree everything is there except the fire lane striping on the parking lot.

“The bottom line is everybody is coming together to get this project done, and it's looking really good, in my opinion. This community should be awful proud of it (the new jail). I know my firm is, and I plan to show it off. It's a culmination of designs, thoughts, ideas and a lot of hard work by a lot of people.”

Heffelfinger said there are still some small details to work out, several of which were pointed out over the weekend by Mother Nature.

“We had a good rain, and we found some leaks,” said Heffelfinger. “We're already addressing those leaks on the building. I don't know how many there are. One of the last things we do is the punch list, and we completed that last week.

“One of the items we don't like to do until we've gone through this process is insulate. So, just to let you know, we don't have a lot of insulation up above these steel ceilings yet. We'll blow all of that in most likely next Wednesday or Thursday. The reason for this is we want to make sure everyone gets everything done in the attic before we do that.”

Heffelfinger said he's had several engineers inspect the building, and it's all been good news.

“I have had every engineer either having already gone through it or in the process of going through it,” he said. “I already have a letter in place from the structural engineer, and they are satisfied. Fire protection came through last week and made four comments, of which we have one left to address. The mechanical engineer went through last week and he's satisfied. He also has a letter ready. So I'm down to one more engineer, which is the roofing independent engineer.”

Heffelfinger said there are currently plans in the works to hold a ribbon cutting for the facility some time Monday, with open houses — including a chance for local residents to walk through the new jail — set for an upcoming Saturday.

“We'll be sending out a notice with those times and dates soon,” he told the court.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it