Clay County Planning Committee Trying to Keep New Jail Costs Low

The Clay County Planning Committee looks to keep costs low as future interest rate changes could lead to a higher estimate for the new county jail.

USDA Area Specialist Chris Hampton told the committee to be mindful of the potential change in case cost does play a factor in the project.

“At this point I would not recommend changing your footprint of the building because you’ve spent a lot of time and money reviewing that plan on that site,” Hampton said. “My point was not to go back to the table and reevaluate a new idea. I just want to make you aware of the three percent per year. It depends on when you bid this project what the cost is going to be.”

County Mayor Dale Reagan said the commission looks to have funding secured and the project started as soon as possible.

“I think we’re moving forward, possibly not as fast as we’d like to, but there’s a lot of factors we have to face and address,” Reagan says. “The funding source is another one of those things that we’re waiting to see as far as getting a financial analysis done. It’s one of the things USDA is requiring us to do.”

One option presented before the commissioners Monday that could potentially save costs is reducing the proposed amount of jail cells from an occupancy of 100 to about 70.

However, Clay County Sheriff Brandon Boone said cutting the occupancy wouldn’t be the best way to save costs.

“The facility that [Cope Architecture] has designed at this point is a bare-bones, basic-need facility. I don’t know that there could be a whole lot cut from that facility,” Boone said. “I would encourage the commissioners not to look that route to shrink the size of it.”

Boone mentioned during the meeting that he had to cancel a call to pick up a person on warrants because the current jail doesn’t have enough room. Afterwards, Boone said space isn’t the only issue with the current facility.

“Occupancy, classification, and segregation; not being able to separate the certain types of inmates, keeping them apart from one another,” Boone said. “We don’t have that luxury in our facility to keep inmates apart between misdemeanors versus felons. Having a facility to be able to classify an inmate and keep them separate will be a great help.”

Cope Architecture Vice President Grant Tharp said Monday the new jail could potentially generate nearly $650,000 in revenue per year. Revenue sources would range from inmates purchasing small items such as snacks at the facility, to potentially housing state inmates.

Reagan said he remains optimistic about the current proposal as the county commission looks to keep costs low on the facility.

“The increasing cost of the budget is another thing that the commissioners are looking at. They’re taking it very seriously,” Reagan said. “Lord be our helper, we’re proceeding on. Hopefully next year at this time, we can be talking about going into the bidding phase.”

Current estimates indicate the facility will cost at least $7 million  with nearly $1 million in costs coming during the first year of operation. The current estimated construction time is two and a half to three years. If all goes according to plan, early signs point to the new jail being opened in late 2022 to early 2023.