About 200 prisoners spent much of Aug. 27 not behind bars but inside locked courtrooms at the Zietlow Justice Center.

The temporary "escape" was necessary so the jail, located on the building's top two floors, could be treated for recently found mold.

Instead of temporarily moving inmates to other jails, a time-consuming and extensive proposition, Sheriff Ruben Marté decided to keep the inmates close by and return them to their cellblocks as soon as possible.

So all justice center offices, from the clerk to the prosecutor, were closed for the day. The justice center was locked down with no public access.

Affiliated employees working in nearby buildings, including probation officers and public defenders, had a day off as well since the judicial system came to a standstill.

Marté's st

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