St. Clair County jail to open in the Spring

In St. Clair County, work on the new jail is wrapping up.

Sheriff Billy Murray says the plan is to start training jail staff in mid-April. He expects to have the new facility open and ready by early to mid-May. Sheriff Murray says they're working to make it a safe and secure facility. As the population of both Pell City and Ashville grows, the need increases.

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"We've had two jails - one in Pell City and one in Ashville and you can imagine the logistical challenges of that," Sheriff Billy Murray, St. Clair County said. "This will allow us to do something we've never been able to do and that's to have one facility big enough to house our jail in Pell City."

This new facility is coming with some controversy. It's being built with American Rescue Plan dollars - which became the point of an argument as to whether that money could be used to build prisons.