Kansas City will build its own jail, Mayor Lucas says, rejecting partnership with county
Kansas City will not partner with Jackson County on its new detention facility and will instead build its own jail to house city detainees, Mayor Quinton Lucas said Thursday.
The City Council had been considering three options for new facilities, including two that would have combined with the new 1,000-bed Jackson County Detention Center being built in eastern Kansas City.
But in a letter Wednesday, Lucas said the city will not partner on a shared detention and rehabilitation center, saying the agreement would have placed “undetermined” financial liability on the city and required approval as soon as next week.
Kansas City is committed to “expeditiously” building a state-of-the-art facility that is safe, while recognizing that many detainees need mental health care and other services, Lucas said in his letter to Jackson County officials. He plans to put together a group of council members to make recommendations on the city’s path forward.
“I expect the group to asses the proper balance of necessary bed spaces, mental health services, social services, location, and construction partners for a new facility to be built and operated by the city,” Lucas wrote.
In 2009, Kansas City closed its own jail near the Truman Sports Complex. For the next decade, city detainees were housed at the Regional Correctional Center, the art deco building that adjoins the red-brick Jackson County Detention Center in downtown Kansas City. City detainees are held on misdemeanor charges, while the county detainees are awaiting trial on felonies.
Since the city’s agreement with Jackson County to house its detainees ended in 2019, the city has been transporting dozens of detainees to jails in Warrensburg and Nevada, Missouri.
Then in May, Jackson County legislators voted to move forward with its $301 million jail project. Jackson County requested Kansas City leaders make a decision about whether to partner by Sept. 15 because of potential construction delays.
At a meeting last week, city council members were presented with three options about facilities. One called for Kansas City to create its own campus with two facilities based on a model of the detention center in Missouri’s southwest Greene County, which would cost between $179 million and $195 million. Each option also included a $61 million community resource center.
This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 9:29 AM.
