Williamson County Needs New Jail
After years of hard work, Williamson County will soon see the construction of a new county jail. “We’re very busy,” Williamson County Jail Administrator Gray Tyner said. Story from WorldNow and KFVS12.
At the start of the day on Tuesday, the Williamson County Jail housed 82 inmates. However, Tyner said with the approach of summer that number would go up.
“We’ve always got people in it (the jail). That takes a lot of wear and tear and abuse and everything we have here has not been replaced since 1985 or 1972,” Tyner said.
Originally, the jail was constructed with just 35 beds back in 1972. However, as the county grew, so did the need for jail space. In 1985 more beds were added totaling 112 but Tyner said their working capacity is at 86 inmates.
Recently the Illinois Department of Corrections inspected the Williamson County Jail. An inspection report outlines nine areas of concern, which involve lack of space, overcrowding, and plumbing problems. If not solved, Tyner said the state could shut down the jail.
Williamson County Board Chairman Brent Gentry said the findings are no surprise, because they have been talking about the problems for years. On Monday, bond money needed to start construction on the new jail arrived in the county’s bank account.
“We have a long term plan for how to pay for the jail without raising any new taxes,” Gentry said.
Gentry said the plan includes the use of federal stimulus dollars and bonds, which will be paid off over the next 30 years. The whole project is expected to cost Williamson County 25 million dollars.
But county commissioner Ron Ellis said he is not sure how the county plans to pay the extra expenses of a 240-bed jail.
“We have never addressed the issues of where the money is going to come from, who’s going to be paying it, what fund it’s going to come from to cover those daily operation expense of this new jail,” Ellis said.
County commissioner Tracey Glenn argued, “We have sat down and estimated the expenses based on the square footage and the equipment and all of that.” She added, “Yes, we’ve addressed the staffing issues.”
The county will also build a new parking lot to replace the one lost by the new jail. The facility will be located between the old building and the new county administration offices.
Construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks and should be finished in about a year and a half.
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