An expansion of the Johnson County jail is one step closer to reality after the county agreed to have a construction company oversee construction of the more than $23 million project.
The Johnson County Board of Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a contract with C.H. Garmong and Son, Inc. at a cost of about $23.1 million. The county has been collecting money from workers who live in Johnson County in the form of an income tax since Oct. 1.
The money collected from that income tax will be used to expand the frequently crowded jail.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
For example, the jail has 322 beds, but 369 people were in the jail Dec. 10, according to records from the Johnson County jail. The state has ordered the county to fix the overcrowding issue.
The $23 million will cover all of the construction costs associated with the expansion, including Garmong’s professional fees. This approval is the final step to getting construction started, said Kevin Walls, Johnson County commissioner.
Some other costs associated with expanding the jail are not included in that number and may not be known until days before the expansion opens. Those costs include furniture and toilet paper. Architectural fees are also not included in that number, Walls said.
Dozens of central Indiana companies bid on certain elements of the expansion in November, and Garmong checked each of the bids to make sure all of the work needed to expand the jail was included. All of those are rolled into the $23 million number, Walls said.
The county will receive the loan that will pay for the expansion on Jan. 22, said Rob Henderson, Johnson County Council member.
Construction is slated to start in the spring and the work is expected to take about a year and a half to two years to complete, Walls said.
The expansion includes adding 264 beds in a new wing of the jail, pull-in bays for arresting officers and revamping its intake and medical areas.
The expansion’s main feature is a new building that will be built to the west of the existing jail, connected by a walkway. The addition will include about 74 new cells on two floors. Those cells will be designed to hold two, four or six inmates, depending on size.
The expansion will also feature a central command center, which is a raised tower in the middle of all the cells so jail workers can monitor and see all the inmates at all times, Walls has said.
For years, county officials and multiple sheriffs have grappled with how to address the chronic overcrowding issue at the jail. In 2010, voters rejected a $23 million referendum that would have added 400 beds to the existing 322 beds at the jail on Hospital Road in Franklin. Since then, the state has ordered the county to remedy the jail’s overcrowding issues.
Total cost of the jail expansion has ticked up over the years. Just this year, county officials estimated it would cost about $15 million. Estimates moved to be between $20 to $25 million in the spring as plans were drawn up and proposed and county officials dug deeper into the project.
A committee made up of county leaders, judges and law enforcement professionals spent years studying how to fix the jail overcrowding, and decided earlier this year that expanding the existing facility would be the best option.
The jail was built in 1977, and the county has had to renovate and restructure parts of the jail in response to a federal lawsuit. The jail was remodeled and a new wing was added that raised the jail’s capacity to 299 from 104.
More beds were added at the jail in 2012 after an inspector with the Indiana Department of Correction found room for 23 more bunks at the request of Sheriff Duane Burgess, who was jail commander at the time, and then-sheriff Doug Cox.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Timeline” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
1977: The current Johnson County jail was built in Franklin.
2010: $23 million referendum to expand the jail is rejected by Johnson County voters.
2012: More beds were added at the jail after an inspector with the Indiana Department of Correction found room for 23 more bunks at the request of Duane Burgess, who was jail commander at the time, and then-sheriff Doug Cox.
March: Johnson County Board of Commissioners hire RQAW to design the jail expansion.
June: Johnson County Council approves an income tax hike of .20 percent to pay for the expansion.
October: Workers who live in Johnson County begin paying the additional income tax; and commissioners approve plans for the Johnson County jail expansion.
November: Commissioners open construction bids.
December: Commissioners approve $23 million contract with Garmong and Son, Inc.
Spring 2020: Construction on the jail expansion is scheduled to start.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
