ANNISTON, Alabama (WBRC) – The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office has begun construction on a new medical wing to accommodate the physical and mental needs of inmates.

This new medical wing is a $10 million project that County Commissioner Lee Patterson said is necessary to care for inmates with mental health issues.

Sheriff Matthew Wade says this new improvement will allow his department to better handle people who come to the jail with issues that officers may not have been able to handle before.

Wade believes that human life should be valuable and he wants to make sure his department does its best to care for people while they are in his care.

“By law, we are responsible for taking care of our sheriff, our deputies and the jail because there are county commissions throughout the state of Alabama. We have a wonderful relationship with our sheriff,” said County Commissioner Danny Shears.

“We do the right thing no matter what anyone else has done, and that’s something I tell my staff every day: We’re expected to do the right thing. So when we give another human being a home and take care of them, we have to do the right thing,” Sheriff Wade said.

This new medical wing is part of a $20 million facility upgrade project. Sheriff Wade says any upgrades to the facility will be done in stages.

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