MONROE — Site work is beginning on the new, $86 million sheriff’s office and jail on county-owned property near the new northeast side high school — itself slated for completion soon and opening this fall for its first students.
But even though local officials are excited to finally start the law enforcement complex project and say it’s desperately needed for public safety, it’s not lost on them that the economy gets tougher by the day — and that there exists notable fatigue among the taxpaying public for spending millions on new construction.
“This is very much a no-frills facility,” said County Administrator Nic Owen. “I know people are very concerned about their tax dollars and right now there is a lot on people’s plate to deal with.”
Owen said the combined jail and sheriff’s office facility, according to the most recent construction schedule, will likely be completed in October 2028.
For Sheriff Cody Kanable, the question of the need for a “public safety complex” is a settled issue, following many years of studies, surveys and a sense of the importance of public safety generally to the community.
“This question has been asked and answered,” said Kanable on Monday. “The need has been repeatedly assessed over the past decade.”
The county board, at its regular meeting June 10 of last year, gave final approval to issue more than $86 million in general obligation bonds to fund and equip a jail/sheriff’s office to replace the modest brick structure that dates to 1958. The modern jail would be able to hold 94 prisoners right away, with eventual capacity for 124. The current jail maximum is about 70 inmates.
Crucially, officials say it will be a lot safer for county corrections staff, the inmates and the public.
Certain amounts of square feet are required to house certain types of inmates, especially those of different genders. In recent past, female inmates were housed in Iowa County — at considerable extra cost to Green County — not just due to a lack of female correctional staff but because of a lack of mandated square feet dedicated to females. Moreover, with all inmates — without the centralized control and access offered by a modern jail — staff must spend more time moving and monitoring them, shutting and locking doors; and maintaining communication with other staff and control areas.
Other improvements will be felt in daily interactions between deputies that the public doesn’t always see, but protect them nonetheless. The new jail, for example, will feature a vastly improved tunnel connecting it to the Justice Center so prisoners can be safely and securely shuttled back and forth for court hearings. In fact, that feature alone accounts for nearly $1 million of the total cost of the project, which also includes a parking deck and mezzanine.
The law enforcement center portion of the build will total about 36,000-square-feet. Kanable said work was able to go forward this week due in large part to the project’s winning a couple key environmental approvals from the state's Dept. of Natural Resources that essentially allow contractors to retain and reuse soil from construction on site — potentially saving many thousands on the original cost estimate.