By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — As far as Sheriff Brian Bellendir knows, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office is the only sheriff’s office in Kansas that has multiple chandeliers in it. The administrative portion of the sheriff’s office on Kansas Avenue in Great Bend does come with its unique stories.
The house-like
structure is over
100 years old and was initially built as a private residence. Bellendir
recalled the building as the Cook and Weber Funeral Home when he was a
child.
"The actual sheriff's residence used to be on the south side of that lot
where the jail is now," said Bellendir. "There was a brick building
there that they tore down. The county bought the building we're in now
in the early 1990s. Matter of fact, they were buying up a lot of
property on that block. At one point, they thought they were going to
take that whole block over for a law enforcement center but that didn't
work out."
Knowing the building as a mortuary growing up, Bellendir joked it still had the
“mortuary” smell and was somewhat creepy going in it when the county purchased
the lot. Bellendir said he has no intentions of building a
new office while he’s elected sheriff.
Since a remodel and reconstruction to
the jail in the mid-2000s, Bellendir mentioned he has never needed to ship
prisoners out because of a lack of space during his three terms.
"I have farmed some prisoners out because of investigations that you did
not want co-suspects in the same jail," said Bellendir. "Lot of times
I'll call someone like Rice County and ask to trade. We'll send ours
over there and they'll give us one. That way it doesn't cost us
anything."
The maximum capacity of the Barton County jail is 110 and the detention center
had approximately 90 inmates as of last week.