CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) – The cost could be high in a Champaign County project to combine two county jails into one facility.
Champaign County Executive Darlene Kloeppel said the county can't fit all of its needs into its satellite jail facility, which is on the east side of the Champaign-Urbana area, and added that a downtown facility is “deteriorating”. She said the proposal to bring those facilities together has a bit of a higher cost in 2019 and is rising every year.
It's estimated the county would spend about $47 million on an updated plan, but leaders have yet to agree on a final answer. Several potential changes include starter cells and bringing men and women into the same building.
“We need more individual cells for people because there’s more involvement with gangs and mental health issues,” Kloeppel said. “So we have more individual props designed in this new version.”
If the two genders were to be brought together, Kloeppel said there would still be sight and sound separation for them. Women were previously downtown, with men in the Satellite Jail.
Plans at this point remain tentative and can still change as members of the Champaign County board committee work to reach an agreement.
Leaders hope to reach a decision in October.
