The Grayson County Detention Center offers more than just incarceration to the inmates who find their way to the facility. With classes and an attitude of understanding, Jailer Joey Stanton and his staff try to provide incarcerated individuals with an atmosphere conducive to taking control of their lives.

With educational programs that offer GEDs and English as a second language, as well as parenting classes, inmates can use their time at the center to better their chances to succeed when they are released.

Opportunities to explore the Bible and learn more about the spiritual element of life are presented by several local churches. Many individuals volunteer their time to give these individuals a new turn in life through spiritual fulfillment.

Because the Grayson County Detention Center houses federal and state prisoners in addition to county offenders, the facility uses a host of security devices and practices which insure the safety of workers and the surrounding community.

The center was constructed with spokes of hallways leading from a central hub. Each is color coded and named for a past jailer, such as Haycraft and Stanton Lanes. Distributed among the hallways are cells of varying security from clusters that host a central dayroom to isolation rooms.

Only male inmates are housed at the center. Female offenders are housed at another facility in the county, and an additional annex is also used. With a 356 bed capacity at the main center, it could be assumed that violence among the inmates would pose a perpetual problem. However, Deputy Jailer Bo Thorp recently stated the incidence of out-and-out personal violence is rare.

"They grumble around sometimes, but we don't have a problem," he said.

One of the outlets to keep inmates busy is the kitchen. Serving approximately 8,400 meals per week, preparation of meals and keeping the facility clean is a big job. A related planned project includes a garden of about two acres for vegetables that will be grown by inmates to feed inmates. Excess produce will be donated to community food banks. An orchard is also in the works with 10 trees already planted.

As Stanton stated in a previous interview, "There is no disgrace in going to jail. The disgrace is staying there."

It is the goal of the Grayson County Detention Center that inmates arriving there will realize the truth of that statement when they're released back into society and their lives.