The opening stage of addressing concerns with the Carroll County Jail began June 28 with the first meeting of the Carroll County Jail Committee. Iowa Chief Jail Inspector Delbert Longley was in attendance to offer his expertise. At this stage no plans are being made, but Longley had some recommendations for getting started.
The committee also has intentions to visit recently opened jails across the state to gather ideas for how to manage inmate classifications such as security risk, mental health, and transgender status. The committee also had preliminary discussions on how to fund the project. Longley noted that renovations are rarely cost effective and may bring in issues with building regulations.
The inspector estimated the cost of a new 25-bed facility to be around $5-6 million. Longley says a good working number will be around $200,000 per bed.
The next steps for the committee will be to return reports on tours of the other facilities and delve into the possibility of attending the PONI program. The Jail Committee’s next meeting is set for July 19 at 1:30 pm.
