SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — A Spokane County planning meeting Monday morning revealed how much it could cost to build a new jail. The Board of County Commissioners are now considering two design options for the new downtown Spokane jail, which was presented by the county project manager.
Those who support a new Spokane County jail believe this will alleviate overcrowding. The county’s plans include keeping the existing jail to house more than 400 high-level offenders. And the new facilities would be located north of it.
The two design options presented to commissioners both include a community corrections center and a now housing tower.
Option one shows a more simplistic design. Its 2028 total construction cost is about $309 million. The community correction center would have 128 beds. The new housing tower would have five floors and 768 beds. The fifth floor would be a shell floor, saved only for future expansion with a range of 1280 to 256 more beds.
The second design option shows a 2028 total construction cost of about $337 million. The community corrections center would have 192 beds. The new housing tower would be five floors with 640 beds. However, half of the 4th floor and the entire 5th floor would be reserved for future expansion of an additional 128 beds.
County project manager Ken Mohr gave commissioners input on the option he prefers.
"Option one looks reasonable in terms of our limitations with financing," Mohr said. "It's probably more reasonable at the $309-million mark and being able to hit that in 2028."
The county is aiming to accommodate a total of 1300 beds by 2028 and more than 1531 by 2053 across the current and new jail facilities. These are targeted totals based on a National Institute of Corrections model.
Both design options bring the bed totals above or close to those targets.
These new facilities hinge on the approval of Spokane County voters. In November, they'll have to decide whether to pass a .2 percent sales tax increase that will help pay for the new jail.
Spokane County Jail Options
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