SEWARD, Neb. (AP) - Seward County leaders have approved plans to upgrade the county sheriff’s office and jail after years of pushing for the move and a resounding rejection in 2008 from voters to fund the project.
Seward County Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve design plans calling for an $11.85 million renovation and expansion of the Sheriff’s Office, which includes the jail, the Lincoln Journal Star reported (https://bit.ly/1hJ2b4D ). While the commissioners discussed financing, they put off voting on how to pay for the work.
Commissioners chose expanding the existing building over constructing a new $12.6 million building, which were the two options presented at the conclusion of a $10,200 feasibility study done by a Missouri architecture firm.
Seward County Jail Administrator Terry Kamprath said the expansion is needed to improve public and inmate safety, bring the jail into compliance with federal and state standards and address the rising cost of housing prisoners outside the county.
Now, when the county runs out of space, it sends inmates to jails in neighboring counties, paying $50 to $70 per person per day for each inmate. In 2011-12, the county spent $187,650 to board prisoners elsewhere.
The three-story expansion approved Tuesday would include space for the county’s court system, prosecutor and public defender offices, probation services and 911 communications center.
The proposal includes expanding the existing 26-bed jail to 66 beds, plus new parking space.
In 2008, Seward voters rejected a new 70-bed jail that would have cost $15 million.
Officials may be able to pay for construction without a public referendum. Nebraska law allows county boards with no existing bond debt to issue an annual tax levy up to 5.2 cents per every $100 of property value for infrastructure such as courthouses and jails.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, https://www.journalstar.com
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