Chickasaw County will go it alone in addressing the future of their aging jail.
The current facility west of the Chickasaw County Courthouse in New Hampton is over 60 years old and the County needs to develop a solution for the near or risk having it shut down.
The County and the City of New Hampton combined to pay $20,000 for a feasibility study of a new law enforcement center, since NHPD also takes their criminal subjects to the jail. The Samuels Group has proposed a facility with holding cells, booking area and office space for just over $13 million.
The County and the City then explored forming a joint authority to pursue a bond referendum and to share building costs, possibly split with the County paying 75% and the City paying 25%. Â
However, during their meeting this week, County Supervisor Jacob Hackman noted that the joint authority could propose different figures.
On April 3rd, the City Council approved moving forward with the joint authority, but this week the Board of Supervisors nixed the plan because they felt the County could lose too much control of the jail.
Still, they need to decide the fate of the County jail. Last week, former Supervisors Arnie Boge and Tim Zoll challenged the Board to make sure proper consideration was given to all options , including renovating the current jail versus building new. State Jail Inspector Delbert Longley told the Board that renovation could be an option, but its not that simple.
Greg Samuels with the Samuels Group noted that they considered renovations in their study initially, factoring in space for the police department as well, and costs quickly reached upwards of $5 million. The Board has asked Samuels to recalculate remodeling the current facility factoring in only the Sheriff’s Office, which Samuels said the County will have to pay extra for.
