YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY

Springfield, MO

Log in Subscribe

Greene County enters agreement for temporary jail

Posted online

The Greene County Commission entered an agreement with Seymour-based All Detainment Solutions to put up temporary jail structures in Springfield.

The county will pay $873,153 annually for at least two years to lease the facilities to be erected in November on the lot east of the Greene County Jail and north of the commission’s office at 933 N. Robberson Ave. After that, the commission will have the option to renew the contract for another three years at $833,727 annually and $794,313 in the sixth year, according to a news release.

“Our jail has a capacity for 601 inmates. We have exceeded that every day for several years now with state and federal inmates,” Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Cirtin said in the release. “Our costs are rising and other county jails are running out of room. At some point, the levee will break.

“The question now is how to stem that until we can find permanent solutions to expand the jail and address the systemic criminal justice issues we face.”

Under the agreement, Greene County will lease six temporary structures with beds, utilities, bathrooms and guard stations. The temporary jail, which will be surrounded with 10-foot-tall razor wire fencing, will house up to 108 inmates. Greene County spokeswoman Trysta Herzog said the facilities would resemble tractor-trailer containers fit together to create a combined housing structure.

The move is expected to help the county’s budget, as this year it expects to spend $2.2 million housing inmates in jail facilities in Cedar, Henry, Johnson, Miller and Pettis counties, according to the release.

The site of the structures is the same proposed for a temporary jail last year. The city of Springfield rejected the county commission’s proposal under which the county wanted $1 million annually over three years from the city to help pay for it.

In July, the city and Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott reached an agreement to again open the jail to municipal prisoners. The sheriff stopped accepting them on April 1, 2015, due to swelling capacity. The agreement settled lawsuits filed from both sides.

Comments

No comments on this story |
Please log in to add your comment
Editors' Pick
From the Ground Up: Republic Intermediate School

The Republic School District is on track to open its Intermediate School for fifth- and sixth-grade students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Most Read
Update cookies preferences