Renovations considered for Johnson County Jail

Johnson County is considering renovations to the county jail to, among other things, ease overcrowding.

The work includes building a larger holding area, expanding the booking area and decreasing the lobby so more space can go toward jail operations.

Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek said a bigger holding cell would allow for at least 15 more inmates than now, which would free up regular cells. That's space the Sheriff's Office could use.

The jail has been overcrowded for years. For the week of Dec. 13 to Dec. 19, the 92-bed jail had an average daily population of 159 inmates.

Those extra inmates are housed out of county, with Johnson County taxpayers footing the bill. And that cost has been rising with the number of inmates in recent years. Pulkrabek is projecting the county will spend $1.4 million on out-of-county rent this fiscal year and $1.8 million the following year. Those numbers do not include transportation costs.

Ultimately, Pulkrabek and other county officials would like a new justice center that includes jail and courtroom space. But that's at least a few years down the road, and with voter approval needed for the funding, Pulkrabek doesn't see it happening any time soon given the economy.

“I think we're going to spend a large number of years in this facility, so I think we need to get it in a condition that we can continue to use it going forward,” he said.

The holding cell, booking station and lobby work would cost an estimated $451,000. Additional items Pulkrabek would like are an expanded sally port to accommodate a new, larger rescue truck ($31,900) and a remodeling of the records area ($143,100).

The county budgeted $450,000 for the project this fiscal year.

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors discussed the project Thursday and expects to hold a public hearing on it in January. The supervisors spoke favorably of the core work, particularly since the expanded holding cell would save the county money by reducing the number of inmates sent elsewhere.

But they questioned the need to remodel the records area, which would include installing Plexiglas at the public counter and adding offices. Supervisor Rod Sullivan said that work could wait until they find out if voters approve a new jail.

Pulkrabek argued that if a justice center was built and the county sold the jail, the improvements could boost the county's asking price for the property.

He said no matter what, this project will not reduce the number of people being brought to jail and the number inmates sent out of county will continue to increase.

“This just helps us … slow the growth a little bit,” he said.