Local jail receives standards of excellence in detention facility operations award at conference

    On April 18, the Nebraska Jail Standards held their annual jail conference in Kearney, Nebraska. Each year they present one award for the entire state to a jail facility that has done an excellent job operating their jail.
    The winner for 2023 was the Chase County Sheriff’s office, noting all the hard work, always being in compliance during annual jail inspections and being able to operate their small jail with limited resources.
    Since being elected Sheriff in 2011, Kevin Mueller has been in charge of operating the Chase County jail. Between the Chase County jail and the Keith County jail, where Mueller served as Sheriff before coming back to Imperial, he has 28 years of operating and managing a jail.
    Kimberley Bartholomew was also recognized, as she is head dispatcher/jailer at the Chase County Sheriff’s office.
    Kim started working as a dispatcher for the Sheriff’s office in 2013. She became head dispatcher in 2016. Since that time, she has been instrumental in upgrading the dispatch and jail communications, implementing new technology to advance the jail to a more modern design.
    She has been a key part in assuring continued full compliance when the county changed vendors for their inmate management system. Kim learned how the new system worked, what she needed to do to keep it operational and worked with the Crime Commission to fix any problems and keep the county in compliance.
    Year after year the jail inspections reflect good record keeping, a clean jail and the staff training is complete.
    For their great work providing consistent excellent service to their community with limited resources, the Jail Standards Board presented Sheriff Mueller and Head Dispatcher Bartholomew with the 2023 Excellence in Detention Facility Operations award.