The latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Heartland

OTTUMWA, IOWA -- Jail is not a place anyone wants to end up in.  Once you hear the doors shut and the doors are locked, you are no longer on your own time. This is jail.

“We will wake them up at 6 a.m. and feed them breakfast, give them medications if they need medication and then they’ll go back to lockdown while we finish up breakfast. They will then be let back out of their cell at 6:30 or 7 and then they'll have the opportunity to be out in the day-room where there's TV, they play cards, they play games, socialize with other inmates,” says Jeremy Weller, Wapello County Jail Administrator.

If an inmate tries to hurt themselves, they will be taken to a special status cell.

“Full length bottom from floor to top windows so we can easily see in. They can't get out of our site and that way we can monitor them,” said Weller.

So what about the food? There have been instances when inmates will throw their food at the guards. Their meals are then replaced with homemade “nutri-loaf.” This is not your grandma’s meatloaf.

“It’s basically everything from the meal that’s going to be served put into a blender. They add some bread and eggs to it and they actually bake it like a loaf of bread.  That way if they throw a loaf of bread at you, it’s no big deal.  But if they threw biscuits and gravy, you got a mess,” said Weller.

I spoke to some of the female inmates and they said they are not fans of the menu adding that it’s very fattening. However, they say they do eat what they’re given because they have no other choice.

Dealing with potentially violent criminals, you need to be ready for anything. Weller said it’s all part of the job and everyday is different.