The Will County Board on Thursday took the first step in what could be a five-year project to expand its jail facilities, deciding the jail must hold at least 750 inmates.
Now come the tough questions of how to pay for the project and when to do it.
“This is a significant step for them to decide on 750,” said Will County Executive Joe Mikan. “But we have a whole lot of steps to go through yet.”
The jail, built for 335 inmates in 1989, has been overcrowded for years. The jail’s population hit a record high of 481 in May.
The County Board gave authority to its Capital Improvements Committee to begin looking at how to come up with space for at least 750 inmates. For a permanent solution, county officials say they might need to build an additional jail at an estimated cost of at least $37 million.
The jail, located just south of the county courthouse in downtown Joliet, has housed an average of 450 inmates per day for about a year, officials said. Some 125 inmates have slept on the floor in recent weeks. Three years ago, the average number of inmates was 380.
Applying a state formula to Will County’s current population of 502,000, the jail should have room for at least 716 inmates, said Sheriff Brendan Ward. But Will County could be home to 735,000 to 820,000 people by 2020, when space will be needed for 1,000 inmates, officials said.
Ward first raised the jail overcrowding issue in 1995.
“I’m glad to see the process move along,” said Ward, who is not seeking re-election this year.
“Overcrowded conditions put a strain on staff, having to watch more inmates in a small confined area, and it makes the inmates more irritable,” he said. “A jail for 750 would give us breathing room.”
The jail, built to allow expansion, consists of six pods that contain cells for up to 46 inmates and a core building that has space for support services. An additional six pods could be added to the jail’s south end, said board member Wayne McMillan (R-Bolingbrook), who chairs the Capital Improvements Committee.
A consultant is looking at land needs for the project, Mikan said.
The county is interested in possibly using the former Joliet Correctional Center, which the state closed over the winter, McMillan said.
