In Nevada — a town where residents leave their doors unlocked and feel safe walking alone at night — the Story County Jail is overflowing with criminals.

“Prisoners are pouring in on us today. We can’t keep up with it all,” said Gary Foster, Story County Jail administrator.

The Story County Jail has a maximum capacity of 46. The average daily number of inmates for April was 42.

The inmate average for August has been 53. During four days this month, there were at least 60 inmates at one time in the prison, Foster said.

The Story County Jail was designed and built in 1968. “Back then it was a state-of-the-art jail. We need a new facility,” Foster said. “This one is outdated.”

The jail is lacking facilities considered essential in more modern buildings.

For instance, many jails have a sally port — a connected garage with a locked door used when transferring inmates.

Earlier this year a prisoner transferring to Marshall County fled on foot when the officer bent down to unlock his car door. If the jail had a sally port, the incident may have been prevented, Foster said.

Many prisoners are brought to the Story County Jail each day from Ames and other county communities. Ames only has a 24-hour holding facility.

“If the judge decides they have to be detained longer than that, we send them to Nevada,” said Sgt. Craig Reid of the Ames Police Department.

The county jail is supposedly equipped for longer detention.

“Here, we hold sentenced persons up to one year,” Foster said. “If someone is sentenced for more than one year, he goes to [the state] prison. Then he’s their responsibility. We don’t want him here any longer than we have to,” Foster said.

Each prisoner detained costs the county an average of $54 a day, he added.

“More people are being arrested all the time,” Foster said. “We are now 100 percent Story County. We are holding exclusively our own.”

The jail calendar is filled with names of people waiting to serve their mandatory two-day sentences for first-time offenses. People used to come in on weekends to serve their sentences, but the weekend population was too high.

Now, those sentenced for first-time offenses have to sign up to serve their time during the week or pay a fee to serve their time on the weekend.

Story County’s jail problems also spell trouble for Boone County, its neighbor to the west.

“The last few weeks have been a nightmare,” said Ron Fehr, Boone County Sheriff. “Our daily population on average is eight to 12 prisoners.”

Because Boone County does not have a jail of its own, prisoners are usually transported to Story County. However, Boone County officials have been forced to find other alternatives as of late.

“Last weekend I had to call 52 different counties to find room for everyone who had been arrested,” Fehr said. “This has happened before, but not as consistently.”

A recent study found that an 18-unit jail was needed to handle Boone County’s daily prisoners, but that plan now rests with the Boone County Board of Supervisors, Fehr said.

Officials agree that something must be done before the situation gets worse. Foster said: “We can’t have officers serve posts with such a small staff,” Foster said. One officer, with the help of a chain, had to escort three prisoners to court at the same time.

There are 23 monitors in the jail’s control room. If officers hear something, they can check the monitor for unusual activity, but the staff can’t watch the monitors continually.

Foster said he’s been forced to call in reserve officers to augment the sheriff staff. The staff volunteers at Iowa State football games, serve search warrants, transport juveniles and assist wherever they are needed, he said.

“We have a real capable and professional staff, if we didn’t, the consequences would be tragic,” Foster said.

In addition to being outdated and understaffed, it is also very cramped.

Because the inmates are forced to share close quarters with several people, “we try to put people together that fit together,” Foster said.

Grouped together in one room are all of the prisoners with behavior and medical problems, Foster said. The room includes those with mental disabilities, sex offenders or other people who “can’t cope,” he said.

Problems arise when “trouble-makers,” inmates who harm their cell or cell mates, need to be segregated. When a juvenile was held this summer for murder, a four-man cell was occupied by one individual.

There is currently a trouble- maker being detained in the jail’s holding cell, more commonly known as the “drunk tank.”

“If anyone is arrested during the night for drunk driving, we have to put them in the exercise room because the holding cell is in use,” Foster said. A mattress is thrown on the floor, and no bathroom is available without an escort.

Two main cells hold the medium security prisoners. Thirty men share two showers, two rooms and one television. There is also a separate area for maximum security prisoners and conference rooms.

There is only one cook and two inmate workers to prepare food for the 50 to 60 people detained. When the jail has visitors, they must pass by the two inmate workers’ cell.

Nearly every corner of the jail is cramped. The cells are overcrowded, the office door won’t close without hitting the desk and there are mattresses in the hall.

The dangers of overcrowding are obvious to visitors and, Foster said, a new facility or large-scale renovation is needed soon.