Sheriff James Stuart says the jail was already outdated when it opened 38 years ago. It’s undergone numerous repairs and an expansion, but the sheriff calls it a “money pit.”
“There’s a host of other security concerns within the jail as well as some of the structural things that just don’t meet today’s need. The facility was designed in a way that was outdated about the time we moved into it,” said Stuart.
The jail was originally designed for 140 beds. Capacity has expanded to 238, but updated requirements for holding prisoners of different security classifications separately pose a problem in the jail. One study found maintenance issues in the facility that add up to $13 million.
“Those issues that were identified they identified as serious and not fixable with the current facility,” said Sheriff Stuart. “We needed to evaluate what does a plan for moving forward look like?”
That’s what commissioners were doing at a work session in early November. With a jail replacement cost estimated at $164 million, Commissioner Jeff Reinert was looking for cheaper options, like keeping the old jail and building a sort of annex nearby. But he’s changing his mind.
“I’m really leaning toward now maybe that we need to build a new jail and raze the one that we have, unfortunately,” said Reinert. “There just wouldn’t be a lot of savings, from what I learned today, in keeping that jail and then trying to use a new one in cooperation with that.”
The plan would build a new jail where the courthouse parking ramp is. One study says the ramp is also in poor condition and needs more than $4 million in repairs. A new ramp would be built across the street.
A new 911 center would also be built on county property in Andover at a cost of about $30 million. The total project adds up to an estimated $244-million.
“This is a grand scale project. It’s the biggest project in my tenure as an elected official, including with the City of Coon Rapids and now with Anoka County,” said Board Chair Scott Schulte.
But Schulte says the county has outgrown the old jail.
“We’ve finally done enough studies and we’ve looked at enough different documents that the majority of commissioners are firmly in the camp that yes we need a new jail. We need more capacity and we need to keep both our inmates and correctional officers safer.”
Reinert agrees, but is not in favor of building what he called a, “Taj Mahal.”
“I do still have question about size and scope of a new jail,” said Reinert. “We’re moving from a 138 cell jail and now they’re proposing 540 cells, so that’s quite an increase.”
The plan is to borrow about $220 million and levy a one-time charge to property owners. On a $300 thousand dollar home, the cost is estimated at $81.60. The rest would come from existing tax dollars.
“We have structured this financially so it will be a very minimal burden to the taxpayer,” said Schulte.
Commissioner Matt Look said he was skeptical about the cost, and suggested they seek help from the state of Minnesota in the form of state bonding money.
Formal approvals on the separate sections of the project will start in about six months beginning with the proposed 911 Ccnter.
