Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan was one of five Kansas sheriffs to travel to the U.S. / Mexico border at the invitation of U.S. Senator Roger Marshall last week.

Soldan joined in on the KSAL Morning News Extra Tuesday to cover a wide range of topics including drug and human traffickers that come over the border every day.

The Sheriff says scores of Fentanyl-laced drugs continue to pour into America.

Soldan says that U.S. Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed – but doing their jobs with utmost professionalism.

Sheriff Soldan also provided an update on the construction of the new Saline County Jail, telling listeners that delivery of the newly cast cell pods will start arriving soon for installation.

The new jail project was approved by voters. A one-half percent sales tax to help pay for the new building was enacted on April 1st, 2021. Estimated completion date of the project is September 2023.

Plans for the new jail include:
Facility will be 392 beds. A consultant projected that by 2038 the average daily population would be over 400.
Will have dedicated medical areas for males and females and dedicated areas for those that need mental health care.

Expanded program space to add programs to help with rehabilitation and re-entry.
Space for dedicated program staff with the potential to add facility specific social worker or mental health professional.

Energy efficient, utilities that are more accessible for repairs, staff efficiencies.
49 additional full-time staff will be needed to run the facility at full capacity, the Jail already employs 55 people.
Includes a new Sheriff’s Office space for Administration, Patrol, Investigations, and Records.