A cautionary tale about a jail

There’s a whole county in Iowa that’s been “jailed.”

The Woodbury County jail construction debacle spanning 13 years is riddled with secrecy, mistakes, and lack of supervision, leaving county taxpayers wondering how they’ll escape a huge tax burden.

It’s a cautionary tale for other unsuspecting cities and towns.

In 2011, the 24-year-old county jail was starting to crumble. But the wheels of county government grind slowly, and in 2013, supervisors requested estimates to improve the antiquated security system. The estimated cost was $1.2 million for a security update.

Then the price tag soared. A lot of other things needed upgrading and the retrofitting so the price increased to about $22 million.

Why not build a brand-new jail at a new location and the county could let the federal government pay part of the tab while housing its prisoners? The local construction unions backed the project believing local workers would get good paying jobs.

But the federal government was changing the sentencing guidelines and reducing jail time. And the only way to afford a $43 million new jail was to pass a large bond issue raising property taxes.

Living in Woodbury County, there’s one thing I know. Trying to pass a bond issue with 60% approval is comparable to me winning a marathon.

There had to be another way. Instead of trying to pass a bond issue requiring 60%, they decided to use a little know Iowa law allowing joint public authorities to issue bonds with a 50% vote from the public.

So, Sioux City and Woodbury County created the Woodbury County Jail Authority, and a new governing board was born to oversee construction and own the jail. Labor led the charge, and it passed by a slim margin

But again, those pesky details got in the way.

The law limits bonding authority of joint entities to $50 million. It still worked although the price had risen to $49 million.

The $49 million began to soar with the lowest bid from a company in Lincoln, Neb. coming in at $58.4 million. That company completed the “Responsible Contractor Questionnaire,” provided by organized labor to ensure quality construction, but no one checked for accuracy. The company could have been rejected. It wasn’t.

COVID-19 hit. There were delays in the supply chain, increased prices, multiple change orders, and numerous mistakes. County supervisors voted to use $20 million of COVID relief funds. Loud protests were met with silence.

The cost soared to $70 million.

The original opening date for the jail was Sept.14, 2023. Then April 4 was announced. The new goal is mid-May, but many believe July is more realistic.

How did this happen?

There was a thick veil of secrecy. The Authority wouldn’t allow the public or press near the project without a 10-hour safety training course and permission from the sheriff. No filming or photos allowed.

It was a public project without public scrutiny.

It’s a cautionary tale for other counties who want to escape being jailed.

Bruce Lear, who lives in Sioux City, taught for 11 years in public schools and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. BruceLear2419@gmail.com