Will County officials have tentatively agreed on a timeline for expanding the County Jail.
On Tuesday, the County Board’s capital improvements committee endorsed a proposal to hire an architect by May. The committee also asked staff to create a schedule for interviewing architects, which could be ready next month.
Committee members also called upon the board’s Finance Committee to study the cost of operating a larger detention facility, and the committee has discussed ways to fund an expansion.
The overcrowded 325-bed jail, which opened in 1990 in downtown Joliet, housed an average of 510 prisoners last fall, Sheriff Paul Kaupas (the name as published has been corrected in this text) said.
In the 1990s, Will County saw a 41 percent increase in its population and double-digit increases in inmate totals. The county had 502,000 residents in 2000, with projections of 820,000 by 2020.
The 2004 fiscal year budget includes $2 million to start the expansion. Capital Improvements Committee chairman Wayne McMillan (R-Bolingbrook) said that money could be used to pay for architectural services.
County officials have talked about building an enlarged jail that could house at least 750 inmates, but Chief Judge Stephen White has said an expansion should produce enough space for 2,000 inmates.
A 2001 county study put the expansion cost at $37 million. On Tuesday, Executive Committee chairman James Moustis (R-Frankfort) said the project could now cost $50 million to $60 million.
“If we hire an architect by spring, I think we should have a pretty good handle on costs by the end of the year,” McMillan said.
