With a potent mix of high-profile suspects, gang members, ongoing policy reforms and new staff members, corrections deputies at the Island County jail have a lot on their plates these days.

There are currently five suspects in homicide cases residing in the jail and another is in the juvenile detention facility.

Island County Sheriff Mark Brown said that’s probably a record for the jail.

To complicate matters, three murder suspects in the adult jail are co-defendants, which means they can’t have any contact with each other. Jose Briones, the new jail chief, said that can make logistics difficult, especially when moving inmates for recreation opportunities or court appearances.

In addition, he said two inmates have gang affiliations. One of the men has ties to the Mexican Mafia, an organized criminal enterprise in U.S. prisons. He was incarcerated in California and wielded control over the inmate population there, Briones said.

The other inmate has ties to a Mexican drug cartel.

Briones said he tries to separate people with gang ties in order to avoid trouble. And he makes an effort to keep inmates suffering from mental illness away from defendants who may be “predatory.”

“We have a very dynamic group right now,” he said.

At the same time, reforms are ongoing at the jail. The process started last year after Keaton Farris, 25, was found dead just after midnight April 8. The coroner found that the Lopez Island native, who was suffering from a mental illness, died at least seven hours earlier from dehydration and malnutrition.

The jail has several new corrections deputies. Brown hired Briones, who has years of experience at state prisons and supervised a unit for people with serious mental illnesses.

Briones said he continues to review policies and procedures and implement changes. The jail staff screens incoming inmates the best they can, Briones said, so they know who they’re dealing with.

Under a settlement with Farris’ family, a jail expert will continue monitoring the jail’s progress. But so far, Brown said, the reforms appear to be working.