Meet the Facility
Calhoun County Correctional Facility
Facility Name: Calhoun County Correctional Facility
Website: calhouncountymi.gov Location: 185 E. Michigan Ave., Battle Creek MI 49014 Year Built/Opened: 1994 Average Daily Population: 400 Males; 49 Females Warden/Director: Sheriff: Steve Hinkley Chief Deputy: David Tendziegloski Number of Staff: 84 Uniformed, 13 Civilian
Number of Volunteers: 2 Operating Budget: Approximately 12 Million Method of Inmate Supervision: 7 Direct Supervision Pods, 7 Indirect Supervision Pods Point of Contact: Katrina Herrington, Lieutenant, kherrington@calhouncountymi.gov
Photo: Jeff Roberts, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
The Calhoun County Correctional Facility is located Battle Creek, Michigan and was opened in 1994. We are one of the biggest jails in the state of Michigan and can house up to 630 inmates. It is a Direct Supervision facility, meaning that corrections officers work in the living areas of the inmates/detainees. The jail was rated for 650 inmates/detainees and employs a staff of approximately 120 prior to COVID-19. Since COVID-19, the jail capacity was change to 430. The reason for the change was to accommodate for quarantine space. Prior to COVID-19 the Correctional Facility booked in approximately 10,500 people per year, post COVID we are averaging approximately 6,500 bookings per year. The local population averages 275-325 inmates/detainees and, to offset costs and raise revenue for the county, rents out remaining beds to other cities, counties, and the federal government.
We have been able to make several upgrades to our facility over the last three years. We have added Guardian RFID for inmate tracking and we have been able to upgrade most of our facilities cameras. Also, we have upgraded our body cameras and have ordered new radios that are not here yet. We have been successful in introducing a MAT program to Calhoun County to better help serve those in need in our population.
Our community mental health provider for Calhoun County has started a new program to help reach those that are incarcerated to get help setup
for when they get released from the facility (we call it boundary spanner). While we do not have jail industry programs, we do offer several inmate programs, including Cognitive Thinking, Alcoholics Anonymous, GED programs, religious-based programs, Inmate Worker, and Shepherd’s Embrace.
We are very proud of the cleanliness of the facility. Our cleanliness standards are high and our staff is constantly told that our facility is very clean. We also offer several inmate programs, including Cognitive Thinking, Alcoholics Anonymous, GED programs, religious-based programs, Inmate Worker and Shepherd’s Embrace.
The facility does housing for non-jurisdictional agencies, and does contract with the federal government for housing purposes. Our correctional staff possesses qualifications for Court Security assignments for this reason. The Corrections Division is further responsible for Security in the Court Complex and Justice Center, as well as the transportation of inmates/detainees to and from Courts and other correctional facilities. Our deputies are responsible for perimeter checks of the entire Justice Complex as well. Sheriff Hinkley has instituted a program that sponsors a few Corrections Officer a year, through an MCOLES Academy to help get some that are interested in being Road Patrol certified.