This stone Richardsonian Romanesque jail was furnished with cells from the Stewart Iron Works Company of Covington, Kentucky. The section facing Elk Street housed the county sheriff and his family and is residential in appearance. Behind this benign facade is the three-story-high expanse of stone walls surrounding the block-long cell block capable of holding 160 prisoners. A four-story watchtower separates the two functions. The jail's interior was modernized and expanded in 1994 by the Crabtree Company.