Future remains unclear for Johnson County Jail and sheriff’s office

IOWA CITY — Concerns over projected jail capacity and the aging current facility continue to dominate conversations about the future of the Johnson County Jail and Sheriff’s Office.

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors met Wednesday to discuss a space needs assessment for the jail and sheriff’s office. The report was completed by Cedar Rapids-based engineering and architecture firm Shive-Hattery.

In May, the supervisors reviewed a partially completed space needs assessment that outlined plans for an $80 million facility with a jail capacity of 140 beds.

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At that May 29 meeting, Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz raised concerns about the proposed jail capacity of 140 beds when local crime is on a downward trend.

Wednesday was the first time the supervisors have talked about the completed report, and Fixmer-Oraiz raised those same concerns again, saying the report didn’t include enough information about the methodology that led to the conclusion that the county would need 140 beds in a new jail.

“I think, fundamentally, I reject the report, and I appreciate all the work that has been done, but I have deep questions about some of the data,” Fixmer-Oraiz said.

Fixmer-Oraiz proposed that a new jail should have no more than 83 beds — the same number as the current facility — but ideally they’d like that number to be zero.

“We're doing a delay game here, and no matter what they come back with, you're going to still have the same position,” Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said to Fixmer-Oraiz.

Shive-Hattery representatives said that they would add information to the assessment about the methodology and data used to arrive at the 140-bed proposal.

Sheriff Brad Kunkel said the facility would be more than a jail. The assessment outlines a building that would also have space for the sheriff’s administrative offices, criminal investigative units and patrol needs.

Kunkel said that even if the jail held no inmates — and people who had been arrested were held out of county — there still would be a need for a local holding facility.

“We have to transport (inmates) back for court, keep them for the day or two, whatever it may be, feed them, provide medication. So we would still be building, in effect, a jail anyway, and we would have to staff it,” Kunkel said.

There was minimal information in the assessment about the option of expanding the existing facility as Shive-Hattery does not see that as a “viable” solution. A site has not been identified for the potential new facility.

A structural report on the existing facility, completed last month by Axiom Consultants of Iowa City, identified a number of issues with the exterior wall and facade system. The report states that the building also is showing signs of “initial failure of some of the supporting structural elements.”

“We don’t deem these issues to be life threatening in need of immediate repair, but they are critical to address soon as the possibility exists for them to grow in severity and potentially at an increased rate,” Robert Decker, principal and owner of Axiom Consultants, wrote in the report.

County officials told The Gazette in 2022 that the current facility is overcrowded and causing safety concerns for both inmates and staff.

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“Civil rights are being violated every single day in our jail, inmates don't have enough space,” Supervisor and board chair Rod Sullivan said.

The county has previously tried to finance jail improvements through bond referendums in 2012 and 2013. Both proposals received more than 50 percent approval from voters, but needed 60 percent to pass.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss the space study and plan for the jail and sheriff’s office at its Aug. 28 meeting.

Comments: megan.woolard@thegazette.com