Assessment of Operations

The Lea County Board of County Commissioners is requesting proposals from qualified vendors to provide a high level analysis and assessment of operations of the County's adult and juvenile detention facilities . The award will be for a Single Term contract for a term of until project completion . The purpose of this comprehensive facility and operational analysis is to assess:

• Operations and programming evaluation of the facilities
• Requirements to meet existing and future needs of Lea County’s criminal justice system

Lea County Detention Center (LCDC) is located in the rural City of Lovington, which serves as the County seat. This location is an inconvenient distance (about 20 miles) from the largest municipality in the County. The location also lacks any public transportation options and is often difficult to access for family members of incarcerated individuals.

The LCDC operates both adult and juvenile facilities. The Detention Center (DC), located in Lovington, NM, has a 400-bed facility for adults with appropriate infrastructure to increase the adult housing to 500 and a 32-bed facility for juveniles. Our juvenile facility is a regional facility and is one of four in the State of New Mexico.

Lea County Detention Center processes more than 3,500 adult incarcerated individuals annually (4,500 prior to Covid) and 132 juveniles annually. The facilities are a combination of pods and open bay construction, and traditional linear-type cells.

Basic information on the two facilities:

• Lea County Detention Center
• Address: 1401 S Commercial Street - Lovington, NM 88260
• Year Opened 2005 (current facilities)
• Both adult and juvenile facilities are currently undergoing renovation
• 12.4 Acres
• 129,395 square feet
• Average Population by Month: 300 LCDC Adult; 16 LCDC Juvenile

Both facilities are currently undergoing renovations to improve functionality to the point of being compatible with modern best practices for incarceration. Both facilities have ongoing building maintenance needs related to security, HVAC, mechanical, electrical and plumbing work. Outdated housing units are being updated. Programming is being implemented to focus on reducing recidivism among incarcerated individuals through education and training, mental health services, substance abuse counseling and related support services.

With both facilities being located in Lovington, the County desires to study the options available to build and operate a sub-station or annex of the Lea County Adult Detention Center in the largest municipality of Hobbs. The options will include one combined or adjacent facility to our current community correctional facility, or a facility adjacent to a new community wellness behavioral health facility. The County intends to utilize the document produced by the selected consultant to aid decision making for the future of both facilities’ operations.

The intent of this assessment will be to review what is needed for Lea County’s detention system, and determine, at a high level, an ideal facility and programming for the County, which would:

• Meet modern best practices;
• Comply with PREA and accreditation standards
• Create a safe environment for both personnel and incarcerated individuals;
• Make best use of taxpayer money;
• Make best use of staffing resources;
• Provide on-site amenities and other resources to promote a safe and productive work environment for employees; and
• Provide incarcerated individuals with effective resources and services aimed at protecting their physical and mental health while in custody, and at reducing recidivism