McLean County Law Enforcement Center officially open
By Danielle Abbott
Building a law enforcement center from the ground up does not happen overnight. Installing state-of-the-art technology, increasing the staff and preparing a facility that can hold more than 28 inmates at a time takes a great deal of determination and hard work. For the McLean County Sherriff’s Department and the McLean County Commissioners, all of that hard work has finally paid off. On Tuesday, the McLean County Law Enforcement Center in Washburn was opened to the public for the fist time. Those that attended the event were given tours of the facility, including the downstairs and upstairs portions of the center. The main, ground level now houses the dispatch center, kitchen, all of the cells with dining areas, indoor gymnasium area, laundry room and the area for finger printing and inmate registration. McLean County Commissioner Julie Hudson-Schenfisch said, "This is the nicest cooking facility in the community right now." She spent Tuesday giving tours of the facility and showing visitors every room and detail of the building. One of the most important rooms on the first floor is the large gymnasium with basketball hoop. "The prisoners can’t go outside, they have to stay inside at all times, unless they are escorted to go to court," Charging said, "That’s why we have the gymnasium here."
