Guthrie County residents have been waiting patiently for the new Law Enforcement Center and Sheriff’s Office to be completed, and now the wait is over.

Sheriff Marty Arganbright says that on June 15th, they received approval from the state jail inspector to begin operations in the new facilities, and began moving inmates over the same day. Arganbright mentions that the new facilities are safer than the old ones, and tells Raccoon Valley Radio one reason for that is that there are fewer chances for inmates to interact with the public.

“This new facility will be much more safer for staff. The inmates will not be brought in around any civilians, you know, even to go to court. We have an elevator, it’ll take them right up to that floor, and they can go right into the courtroom.”

Arganbright explains that with the larger facilities, they now also have the capability to categorize inmates by severity of their crimes. He adds that they also have room that they can hold inmates for other county jails, and bring in a source of revenue for Guthrie County. The ribbon cutting and open house for the Law Enforcement Center will be this weekend, with the ribbon cutting at 10am Saturday, and guided tours of the facilities from 11am-2pm, with the Guthrie County Cattleman’s Association grilling hamburgers for lunch. On Sunday there will be tours from 10am to 2pm.