An eight-member committee that will consider the construction of a new jail in Beaufort County can begin its work as a result of action Friday by the county’s Board of Commissioners.
But one commissioner cautioned the committee that its role would be “totally advisory.”
The decision to give the go-ahead to the jail committee came after a daylong retreat at the N.C. Estuarium during which county leaders heard presentations on issues concerning a new jail’s construction, siting and operations and the county’s ability to finance the additional debt it would assume when the jail was built.
In November, county leaders appointed a committee that included Commissioners Hood Richardson, Al Klemm and board Chairman Jerry Langley along with Sheriff Alan Jordan, Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons Jr., District Court Judge Michael Paul, District Attorney Seth Edwards and Catrena Ross, jail administrator, to study the need for a new jail and recommend to the commissioners a plan for its construction.
But at that time, the board’s members agreed to discuss various issues that would affect the jail’s construction before the committee would begin its work.
“Now is the time that you would want the committee to begin doing its work,” County Manager Randell Woodruff told the panel following several presentations at the retreat.
But Richardson cautioned that the committee’s work is “advisory” and the final decision about the construction and location of a new jail would be left to the county commissioners.
The issues involved in siting and building a new jail were the subjects of much debate by county leaders in 2008 and 2009, but the economic downturn and the financial difficulties facing the local hospital eclipsed the issue.
A recent tour of the jail by the county’s grand jury and a subsequent report citing the jail’s many deficiencies have helped bring the issue back to the forefront of discussion.
The detention center, which has a capacity to hold 85 inmates, has an average daily population of 90, and, on Jan. 20, held 91, according to information presented to the commissioners.
But while the commissioners generally agree that a new jail should be sited on the north side of the Pamlico River, recent discussions by the panel have shown little agreement on anything else.
Richardson is one of those who advocates for the construction of a new jail on county-owned land behind the Beaufort County Courthouse between Second and Third streets. But other county leaders have said there is not enough room there for a new jail.
County leaders should consider a variety of factors in deciding where to site the jail and what form the construction should take, including not only the costs to build it, but the costs to operate it, the commissioners were told.
For example, a multi-story jail may cost less to build than a one-story jail, but the costs of operating the multi-story building would be considerably higher than a one-story building because of increased staffing needs, they were told.
Another factor to consider is the increased cost to the county’s taxpayers in the form of potential property-tax increases to pay for not only of building the jail but the cost to operate it, the panel was told.
During the recent economic downturn, construction costs have fallen, but because of the rising cost of fuel and some materials, those costs are expected to rise in the coming months, they were told.