Johnson County takes next step toward $3.3M jail repairs

IOWA CITY — Johnson County supervisors this week approved over $280,000 to design an estimated $3.3 million worth of repairs to the county jail and sheriff’s office, adding to the hefty cost of maintaining the facility as talk of building a new one continues.

The agreement with Axiom Consultants will make design plans to add a new roof, replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and exterior doors, improve drainage systems and stabilize the brick exterior of the building that opened in 1981.

The repairs, which consultants estimate could be done within the year, do not address any of the space needs of the jail and sheriff’s office. County officials have said for years that the facility is crowded and unsafe for both inmates and staff.

The newly approved design proposal is the latest phase of plans to shore up the existing building. The first phase, which cost the county $36,500, was an initial investigation into what it would take to stabilize the building. The second phase will complete the designs so the work can go out for bids from contractors.

At the same time the county has been looking to repair the facility, officials have been exploring the feasibility of a new joint law enforcement facility with Iowa City — but even if found viable, that new building likely would be years away.

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Maintenance costs of facility continue to rise

Johnson County Facilities Director Dave Curtis said the county has spent $115,000 just on repairs to the jail and sheriff’s facility this fiscal year, which began July 1, 2024. That’s on top of $120,000 spent in fiscal 2023 and $116,000 in fiscal 2024.

Among the repairs this year were fixing the building’s thermostats, which the county staff purchased off eBay because they were unable to find the parts elsewhere.

“I think it just speaks to the repairs that we're having to do are more expensive and parts are harder and harder to come by,” Curtis said at an earlier Board of Supervisors meeting.

Facility staff have told supervisors the roof leaks every time it rains and the jail’s air conditioning system is past its useful life — which prompted the board to approve $36,500 worth of funding for the proposal to fix those issues.

Looking toward new facility

The Johnson County Board of Supervisors and the Iowa City Council each approved spending $31,900 — for a combined $63,800 — to study the feasibility of a joint law enforcement facility.

Neither entity has committed to work beyond the initial study.

The current Johnson County Jail is over capacity, posing safety concerns for both inmates and staff, and requiring that some inmates be housed at facilities outside the county. Between 2021 and 2023, the county paid an average of $387,000 per year to house inmates out of county, according to county data.

The Iowa City Police Department is in a similar situation. Officials have said the department’s current space, which is housed within City Hall, isn’t fit for long-term use due to its age and its crowding.

Both Johnson County and Iowa City completed space needs assessments of their facilities in the past two years. The two architectural firms that completed the studies — OPN Architects and Shive-Hattery — are working together on the joint feasibility study.

The Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee, which includes the Board of Supervisors, is proposing to put a bond issue before Johnson County voters in November 2026 that would fund the project — and be backed with property taxes — if approved.

The committee is hoping to have a final design for a facility by the end of this year. A cost estimate is not yet available.

A joint county/city project referendum would require a simple majority approval from voters, as opposed to the 60 percent required if the county were to introduce a bond by itself.

The county previously has tried to finance jail improvements through bond referendums in 2012 and 2013. Both proposals received more than 50 percent approval from voters, but not the needed 60 percent.

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