KC to decide whether to build a $22M temporary jail before its new permanent one

Update: The City Council approved funding a temporary jail on Thursday. In a statement, the city called the current arrangement, where people are detained many miles away in Vernon and Johnson Counties, both expensive and impractical.

“The new 100-bed modular facility will provide a more efficient, locally managed solution while maintaining accountability and public safety,” the city said.

“The City Council’s support demonstrates courage and commitment to making Kansas City safer for all,” City Manager Mario Vasquez said in a statement. “Neighborhoods, business owners, and community groups have consistently asked for this service. I’m proud of my staff and their ability to deliver a practical and responsible solution.”

The Kansas City Council is expected to make a final decision on Thursday over whether to spend $22 million on a temporary jail to be built in time for the World Cup in June.

City officials have been planning to build a new permanent municipal jail next to the new Jackson County jail after voters approved a city public safety sales tax renewal last spring, which will take years to complete. The city hasn’t had its own jail since 2009 and contracts out to hold people arrested for municipal offenses many miles away in Vernon and Johnson counties.

This temporary jail would be completed before that new permanent one. The future use of the temporary jail once the permanent one opens is yet to be determined.

Both the proposed temporary jail and the coming permanent city jail would be for people charged with city ordinance violations. A review of court records found people currently being detained in city cases include charges like violating a protection order, assault, trespassing, stealing and violating probation, among others. People charged with felonies, which are state offenses, wouldn’t use the municipal jail but would instead be detained at the Jackson, Platte, and Clay county jails.

Construction of the proposed temporary city jail could begin in December and be finished by May 2026, before the FIFA World Cup starts in June. The facility would be where there is currently a parking lot at a city tow lot in the East Bottoms near the Missouri River at 7750 Front St.

The proposal moves forward as concerns swirl about crime, violence and homelessness in Kansas City, and officials expect the World Cup to further strain the city’s detention and rehabilitation resources.

Worries have also emerged about poor conditions inside the Vernon County facility that holds male detainees from Kansas City and people getting released early over a judge’s orders.

On the table is a plan to spend $22 million in public safety sales tax funds on the temporary jail, which would come with 100 beds.

Leading up to that vote, several residents showed up to City Hall to weigh in on the controversial proposal, and nearly all were opposed.

Opponents say a temporary jail would criminalize the most vulnerable residents and be an ineffective waste of taxpayer money that could be better spent on providing housing, health care and other alternative resources to address the root causes of harm — while only creating an illusion of safety. Others say they worry it will become a place for police to send people living outside to get them off the street.

“A safe Kansas City is one where we address problems within our city instead of burying our head in the sand and continuing the same tired framework that is proven time and time again to not create public safety,” resident Sky Mart wrote in a letter to the city. “Jails do not prevent crime.”

Supporters say the temporary jail is a necessary short-term solution with widespread support, and just one piece of the puzzle, to address crime concerns that are negatively impacting quality of life and safety for Kansas City’s residents, neighborhoods and business districts, while ensuring people struggling with mental health and other issues access the resources they need.

“It’s some place where we can begin the process of being able to help (on) a longer-term basis,” said Bobbi Baker of the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. “I don’t believe that we can wait three years, three more years, to be able to get a full city facility.”

On Tuesday, the City Council’s finance committee forwarded the temporary jail proposal to the full council without a recommendation. The full council is expected to discuss and vote on whether to go ahead with the proposed plan on Thursday.

Andrea Bough, council member for the 6th District At-Large, emphasized that the city has made investments in other items, like mental health and affordable housing, and noted plans for a community resource center, which will support those who are moving through the justice system while struggling with addiction, mental health, homelessness and extreme poverty.

Further details about the community resource center are to be announced.

“I wish this was a city that did not have to build a jail,” Bough said. “But right now, I don’t know that we have a choice, because we’re not at a point where we have the (community resource center) ready. We’re going to get to that point.”

Bough said she is a woman of faith and doesn’t want to see anybody go to jail, but she doesn’t know if there is an alternative to the temporary jail right now.

“For me, it’s not building it for the World Cup. It’s not building it to move our houseless population off the streets to make it a pretty street,” Bough said. “That’s not what it is for me. It’s to address an issue that we have in this city that I am hearing from people from our districts.”

She said the temporary jail is not an ideal solution, but it’s a step the city has to take in combination with everything else it has done.

Council member Johnathan Duncan of the 6th District, a staunch opponent of the jail, asked his fellow council members to ensure that as the community resource center comes up for votes, they put just as much money, if not more, into rehabilitation efforts.

“I understand the want to do something now,” he said. “I will ask that long-term solutions will have long-term benefits, and that’s where the bulk of our investment will be.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM.