Q: I want to know about the state-of-the-art jail. How many people does it take to run the jail with its electronic monitoring system and why? How many people are there now?

A: The number of jail staff required depends on inmate population. Coos County Sheriff’s Cpl. Darius Mede, who is in charge of the jail schedule, lists the minimum staff needed at each population level as follows: For a population of 49 or fewer, 23 officers are needed; for a population of 50 to 98, 28 officers are needed; for a population of 99 to 146, 37 officers are needed; and for a population  147 and more, 42 officers are needed.

Mede said the jail adopted the minimum staffing policy in February of 2007, in response to budget cuts.

With a current maximum of 97 beds in the jail, the staffing level is at 28. The schedule is on three, eight-hour shifts per day. All swing and night shifts call for five people. Seven people are required during day shifts during the work week, as officers must accompany inmates to court appearances. Weekend day shifts take six officers.

It’s really not a lot of people,” Mede said. “Before the county cuts, it wasn’t uncommon to have 12 people on a shift.”

Mede added that before cuts, the entire jail was operational, but now only half the blocks are available.

The jail has a monitoring system capable of allowing control room staff an eye on hallways and inside cells, but officers don’t rely on cameras alone, Mede said. The cameras are most useful for monitoring movement within the jail, Mede said. Staff conducts hourly monitoring tours to make sure inmates are in their cells and not having medical problems or in need of other assistance.

“For that, we use our people not the cameras,” Mede said.