There are solid walls between the cells. A horizontal space framed in the bars allows a plate of food or a chamber pot to be passed into or out of the cell. The windows originally had two sashes, a lower stationary sash of four panes, and a sliding upper sash. The upper window could be opened from outside the building by sliding it back horizontally into a compartment in the wall. Originally, iron bars probably covered both the upper and lower windows.
Cells have windows of various sizes and some have none at all.
This one is quite large. By 1886, the existent building was no longer used as an asylum. Instead, it served as a hog barn for many years. In 1977, the building was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Miltner, then administrators of the Johnson County Care Facility. The asylum was listed on the National Register in 1978.