Discussions on new county jail continue

A proposed combined law enforcement center in Cheyenne County will likely be narrowed to a new county jail.

Earlier this week, Cheyenne County Commissioners asked John Jenson, the Cheyenne County sheriff, to have the consultants who drafted the initial feasibility study refine concept designs solely to a jail.

Four months ago, a team of architects and consultants presented a report that examined the current sheriff's office facilities and jail – and also proposed numerous concepts of what a new joint complex could look like.

The current jail holds 20 inmates, but if any major construction were undertaken, that number would be reduced to six because of additional jail standards implemented since the facility was constructed in 1967.

At the same time, the city police department is in need of a new station. The department has called a repurposed fast food restaurant home for 30 years, but the location was only supposed to be temporary.

Because both law enforcement agencies need new facilities, consultants examined what a joint center would look like.

A rough estimate of what that would cost – $16 million – has caused both county and city officials pause.

No decisions on which direction to proceed have been made – and so far, nothing is off the table. But at a commissioners meeting on Monday, Jenson was asked to scale the project back to what is most urgently needed: a new jail.

In an interview, Jenson said from Day 1, that has been his priority – along with keeping the new jail on the courthouse square.

Jenson said last week, the number of Cheyenne County inmates reached as high as 32. Since the jail can only accommodate 20 at one time, other counties are paid to house individuals arrested or facing charges here. And then there's the transportation costs to retrieve those inmates for court appearances.

In the past seven years combined, those costs approached $1 million, he said.

A new jail would not only efface those expenditures, but, if built large enough to accommodate the county's future needs, could provide income in the first few years by housing inmates from other counties – until Cheyenne County needed those beds.

The project is in the beginning stages, and Jenson and commissioners said community input would be an important part of the process. But the sheriff said he wants some hard numbers first.

"There is going to be a dramatic difference from the cost of a joint center going down to a jail," he said.

Jenson has been in contact with the consultants and architects.

"That's what the commissioners are asking me to do," he said. "They're asking me to refine it down to just a jail and see what that blue print is going to look like on the rest of the county courthouse square."

Once that's completed, a group of citizens from throughout the county will be assembled to provide input.

"And then, in the same process, we need to determine what's the best way to fund, or attempt to fund, the new facility," the sheriff said.

The previous feasibility study is helpful because it provides a profile and analysis of the current jail and identifies what is needed for the future, he said. Once the numbers are re-crunched for a project more narrow in scope, Jenson said the community group will be assembled and town halls conducted.

"Getting a group to come in is going to be great, but I think before we get to that point, we've got to have some real numbers, some accurate numbers," he said. "The study side of that is done, but there is a difference between, say, $16 million and $6 million, and that's the big thing. I want to be accurate when we go out."

While it will be a long process, the sheriff said it's necessary.

"I'm excited for it," Jenson said. "But any time you're dealing with tax money, you've got to be ever so careful that everything is looked at. You can't come in just from one side – you've got to look at every angle, you've got to look at future expenses."