Spare the taxpayer: Do Jackson County and Kansas City each need a separate jail?
The stalled process to replace the aging, dysfunctional Jackson County jail is back on track, following a summer of unfortunate delays.
On Monday, county lawmakers agreed to spend $1.3 million for the first phase of planning for the facility. The contract was awarded to a group called JCDC Partners, a consortium of local and national firms with experience in jail construction.
Eventually, JCDC Partners will help select a site for the new jail and suggest how much it should cost. The company will study plans for dealing with the existing jail downtown.
But first things first. For the next five months, JCDC Partners will undertake what’s called a “validation of needs” study. The firm will gather available information about the jail, survey stakeholders and county officials and come up with a broad outline for constructing a new facility.
The group will answer critical questions: Should Jackson County build a jail on its own? Should it join forces with Kansas City, which has a jail crisis too? Or should it build a bigger regional jail, with other municipalities involved?
The answer is obvious. Planners should pursue a regional jail, with as many other cities joining the project as possible. A stand-alone, county-only jail won’t do.
A regional jail would be more financially efficient, not only in construction costs but in operations and maintenance. There’s no reason why Jackson County should build a new facility while Kansas City, or any other city with an aging jail, replicates the process at another location.
To be sure, a regional jail would be complicated. The needs of inmates housed by Kansas City may not be identical to the needs of Jackson County inmates. While medical and mental health services will be key components in a new jail, the city’s requirements may differ from the county’s.
Management and oversight of the facility will have to be worked out. Under current procedure, the Jackson County sheriff operates the jail. Cities participating in a regional jail will need to become comfortable with the sheriff’s role, while insisting on proper protections for their own inmates.
A full breakdown of county-city cost-sharing will be essential, too.
JCDC Partners must spend the first months of 2020 understanding these issues and laying the groundwork for intra-county cooperation. Jackson County must have a new jail, but taxpayers should not be asked to pay more than is necessary, or to pay for two jails when one would suffice.
New Jackson County administrator Troy Schulte, who was Kansas City’s city manager until last week, will provide critical information in this matter. The city’s expensive failure to find a place for its own inmates should give City Council members a powerful incentive to work with the county on a new jail.
Jackson County’s progress on a new detention center has been delayed by a summer of disputes over property taxes and the normal push-and-pull between county legislators and administrators. That delay is now at an end.
JCDC Partners said Monday it’s aiming to open a new jail in May 2024, which can’t come soon enough. The funding appears to be in place. Real progress on a new jail is essential next year.