Urbana Satellite Jail close to opening

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — The renovation of the Satellite Jail in Urbana is almost finished, after about two years of construction. The downtown jail was shut down in 2022, leaving the satellite space as the only one in the county.

Sheriff Heuerman said the shutdown was for the safety of everyone.

An officer was assaulted, and the facility was shut down soon after, leading to the need for a new one.

“I have an obligation to ensure that we have a safely ran facility in Champaign County,” Jail Superintendent Karee Voges said.

And she says that’s what renovations to the Champaign County satellite jail will provide. Voges has served in law enforcement here since the early 2000s.

“For me, I have been doing this for 21 years and we’ve been talking about the fact that the downtown jail probably should have been shut down for ten plus years,” Voges said.

Before these changes, authorities say inmates were not always able to get the best possible care.

“The most disheartening thing is seeing some of the special needs of inmates come in and not being able to take care of those needs,” Champaign County Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said.

Voges said it’s important to remember that these inmates are people with loved ones too.

“That could be our family member, our friends,” Voges said. “They need to come into a place that’s humane.”

Going forward, Voges hopes all needs are able to be met.

“This project is simply just replacing the beds that we had and actually decreasing the bed space but managing it in a completely different way than we had the ability to with the beds that we currently had at the satellite jail,” Voges said.

The project includes smaller housing units, a new medical wing and more space for programs.

“With this special kind of design that we have created, it’s going to be much easier for my staff,” Voges said. “It’s going to be safer for them as well as for the inmate population that come into jail.”

Voges described the project as her “baby.”

“I mean this is a joy for me to know that my officers are going to be able to work in something that is clean and up to date and much safer as well as for those people that come to jail,” Voges said.

Officers say the extra cost is worth it.

Voges said she hopes to have the keys to the facility on Friday and move inmates in Oct. 15. Then they will start renovations on other parts of the satellite jail.

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