The building for the Niobrara County Sheriff’s Office was determined to have structural issues about a year ago and, now, renovations are now nearing completion.

According to Niobrara County Sheriff Randy Starkey, the Sheriff’s Office moved their inmates in May 2023 to Goshen County Sheriff’s Office for housing. Starkey had contacted surrounding counties and Goshen Sheriff’s Office gave them the best deal at $55 a day.

According to Starkey, the Sheriff’s Office moved their base of operations to a building by Sand Rock Vision in Lusk, Wyoming.

Repairs included a new roof. According to Starkey, the Sheriff’s Office contracted with GSG Architect in Casper, Wyoming. GSG Architect reengineered the roof. Big Horn Roofing out of Laramie, Wyoming put the new roof on.

Painting the inside of the new Sheriff’s Office kept the staff busy during the repairs. According to Starkey, all of the staff had the opportunity to buy into the Sheriff’s Office.

“By them doing a lot work within the facility, it makes so it more of a part of their facility,” Starkey said.

New walls were installed to added. Those who enter the new office will find a new wall and window. This was done to add more safety and security for staff.

“This is now a safe area in the office. It keeps people out there [in the waiting area],” said Starkey.

Contractors built a new room for booking in inmates to make that area more secure and efficient for staff. It is no longer an open area. A separate room was also built to hold the inmates during the booking process. The kitchen was moved into a new area as well. New flooring was installed.

“It just makes it more functional now,” said Starkey.

The Sheriff’s Office also purchased a new finger printing machine.

Another update that was added was a communications system for inmates to use. According to Starkey, the Sheriff’s Office decided to partner with NCIC Correctional Services. NCIC was established in 1996, making it one of the longest running Telecom carriers in the inmate telephone industry. NCIC is not confined to the United States. The company also works in 55 other countries. NCIC’s goal is to provide the right tools to maximize staff time while increasing the security of the inmate phone system.

Inmates are provided with a tablet. This allows them to make phone calls, attend remote visitation and compose messages. Inmates can take classes using the tablet while spending during incarceration. The inmates will also be able to make requests through this system. As an incentive, the inmates can take classes on the tablet as well. Classes range from parenting to anger management and substance abuse. Credits can be amassed in order to watch movies or TV shows and to be able to play games on the tablet.

“The tablets are a benefit to the inmates so they can watch movies or play games on them. But, they have to take courses in order to do so,” Starkey said.

Throughout the construction, contactors also reframed the doors within the facility. Now, there is a separation for dispatch employees so they do not have to go through the detention area to get to dispatch.

“All the doors have been repainted,” Starkey explained. “They are all now tan, and tan areas are where inmates can go. If the door is grey, the inmates cannot go into those areas.”

The inmate’s recreation room is now carpeted as well. The Sheriff’s Office decided on an indoor-outdoor carpet to make it easier to maintain.

“We just did a lot of reorganization, a lot of moving to make things flow better,” said Starkey. “They function better. We took out a wall and expanded the kitchen to make it larger and more functionable. Just stuff to make it safer for the employees and the inmates.”

The control center still needs to be rewired, but completion of that project is slated for a later date. The kitchen area and a storage area or computers have already been required. There are still areas that are outdated. However, the necessary remodeling has been completed within the detention area and the front office where visitors enter.

According to Starkey, his goal was to keep all of the contractors within Wyoming and within Lusk. Local contractors David Lingelbach and Miller Construction were tapped for their expertise in completing several of the renovations. Starkey also made sure that things were repurposed. As a result, costs were reduced.

“It’s going to be a couple of years before we are able to get to the dispatch area,” Starkey explained. “We’ll need to update all of our computers and radios because, within the next few years, the systems will be outdated and obsolete.”

“Anything that we could reuse and recycle, we did,” Starkey added. “Our biggest expense has been the purchasing of paint.”

Niobrara County paid for the new roof. An insurance provider covered the interior. New cameras were purchased. The Detention Center was added to the Sheriff’s Office in 1995 and it hasn’t seen a major update until now.

“Staff are excited to get the inmates back,” said Starkey “We have had to transport our inmates back and forth for court from Goshen County. We still have stuff we want to do to make things more functionable and easier for staff and inmates.”

Starkey explained that the remodel was necessary for “beefing up” security.

“We just wanted to make it safer for the community,” Starkey stated.

Starkey is hoping to have an open house in the future.

The Niobrara County Sheriff’s Office has three positions open. These are a dispatch position, a detention deputy, and deputy sheriff. To apply visit, their website at www.niobrarasheriff.org.