County to put jail proposal on April 5 election ballot

A half-cent sales tax increase to fund a new county jail will be on the April 5 ballot following unanimous action by the Marion County Board of Commissioners at a special meeting Feb. 17.

The commissioners also agreed on a cap of $3.5 million to pay for the jail, which would include the architect?s costs and all other expenses associated with building the facility.

That cap, however, would not include the cost of the land on which the jail would be situated.

?Although it has not been decided,? said Commissioner Dan Holub, ?we are looking at land east of the current jail to build the new facility.?

Prior to making the decision for a new county jail, the commissioners heard from two architects recommended by the Marion County Public Safety and Law Enforcement Center Committee, an advisory group.

The architects were appointed in 2009 to study and recommend a plan addressing the current jail facility, financing options and choosing architectural firms.

Treanor Architects of Topeka and HMN Architects of Overland Park both sent representatives to discuss the costs and design for a 32-bed facility.

As a way of review, Andrew Pitts with Treanor talked about his firm?s initial contact with the advisory group.

?We met with Sheriff Rob Craft and the jail committee in 2009 and talked about what the needs were and a rough program of what should go inside the building,? he said. ?From that we were asked to come up with a rough concept of what the layout could be and presented that in the fall of 2009.?

After that initial visit, Pitts said the ball was back in the commissioners? court as to what steps would be next.

In discussing the building?s design, Pitts also noted that at this stage in the process, the facility is more of a sketch work.

?It is far from what the end result will look like because we will be sitting down with the sheriff and his staff to understand his specific booking process, classification of inmates and other concerns,? Pitts said.

County jail layout

In the initial drawings, both architectural firms had a basement in the facility, but after some discussion, the commissioners decided to do away with the basement and avoid mold or other problems associated with a below-ground floor.

Pitts explained the layout, pointing out a public lobby with access to administration offices, restrooms and booking area.

?The No. 1 operational cost is staff,? he said. For that reason, the facility is designed to minimize the number of deputies or jailers to maintain the jail.

?From the central control room (the deputy and jailer have) a visual of all housing pods and can oversee and manage inmates.?

In addition, the facility can be arranged in a couple different ways, he said.

For example, if the sheriff knows the capability of a prisoner, that person can be isolated. For those inmates that are considered ?regulars? or ?weekenders,? they may not need to be isolated.

The prison pods can be divided into maximum, medium, minimum and females.

?The goal is not to design a facility to increase staff,? Pitts said, ?and while you may not be at staffing level right now, it is recommended two officers be in the building at all times.?

Pitts did note that budget and financial restraints can come into play when looking at staffing.

Steve Davis with HMN Architects also spoke about keeping staff costs to a minimum and proposed a similar layout as Treanor?s architect.

In Davis? design, the law enforcement center would be located where the public enters, with the middle of the facility for intake and support and the back area used for housing prisoners.

Prisoner entry

The vehicle sallyport in the new facility would be a place for officers to check prisoners for weapons or give them blood alcohol tests.

From the sallyport, the prisoner could be taken into central booking, and if behaving, could sit in a chair, Pitts said.

For drunken or disorderly arrests, a holding cell is located off the sallyport.

For ?bond and release? prisoners, a holding facility could also be used. For those planning to stay overnight or longer, the officer could process them further and put them into one of the classifications within the jail population.

Another safety measure for officers is all of the glass coming from dayroom into hallway would be one-way mirrored glass, which allows the officers to see inmates but does not let the prisoners see out or see traffic walking by.

?We try to build a facility that will minimize an inmate?s ability to communicate to other inmates or learn the routines of the officers,? Pitts said.

In the design is an indoor exercise area with natural daylight, according to the American Correctional Association guidelines.

?Kansas doesn?t have jail standards,? he said.

The kitchen facility could be set up in a couple of ways to include a convection oven for reheating food catered through contracts with a local hospital, restaurant or other agency preparing meals. The kitchen could also be set up to allow some inmates to make their own meals.

In the work release section, which is the sallyport off the main lobby, inmates are allowed to work during the day but return to jail for the night.

The work release cells are in a separated area to avoid other prisoners from hearing gossip or receiving contraband.

In the jail drawing submitted by Davis, a similar layout for work release prisoners was made.

Visitation can happen in a variety of ways, such as non-contact, video visitation or contact visitation for attorney client or court-ordered contact while still within a secure zone.

The furniture would consist of metal tables and chairs bolted to the floors.

In the cells, the beds could be either concrete or steel bolted to the walls, Pitts said.

The emphasis is on durability, he said.

Costs

Davis said construction cost estimates on the HMN jail facility to include a 32-bed single floor housing, warming kitchen, laundry, vehicular sallyport, indoor/outdoor recreation, intake, visitation and sheriff?s offices would be between $3.9 million and $4.2 million.

Other construction costs, assuming 2011 bids, would be between $319,000 and $348,000, to include a 5 percent construction contingency, plan review, permit and nine-month escalation .

Additional project costs were figured at between $418,000 and $456,000 for a total project cost of $4.6 million to about $5 million.

Treanor?s costs were between $3.5 million and $3.8 million for a 16,500 square foot facility and using pre-cast concrete cells when possible and less expensive Sheetrock in the administrative areas, rather than concrete.

Pitts said he believes the county could receive anywhere from eight to 12 bidders for the work.

?(The county) would get a better dollar value because of the way the market is right now,? Pitts said.

The commissioners plan to finalize which architect they will be using later this week.

The commissioners also agreed to begin having jail meetings prior to the April general election, visiting Hillsboro, Peabody and Marion.

The only other option available is to transport prisoners to other facilities, which was not considered a viable choice.

Not only would it be costly, Holub said, but it would also mean officers would be driving to and from various locations to bring prisoners back for court hearings, doctor appointments and other reasons.

More than two years ago, the issue of a new jail was first introduced to Marion County voters, but at that time, Holub said, the cost was estimated at $9 million for a 72-bed facility using a 1-cent sales tax increase.

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