Pike County property owners worried that county supervisors will renew discussions of building a new jail can rest easy for now.
Three supervisors, Robert Accardo, Jake Gazzo and Justin Lofton, said in interviews last week that they don’t expect any discussion of a new jail for the remainder of their current term in office, which runs to the end of 2027.
And if they or their successors do decide to explore building one — which would be incredibly expensive — it would take another two years or more of planning.
Add it up and there is unlikely to be any jail construction until at least 2030 — if then, because building a new one would require a huge property tax increase.
Last year, when a new jail was under discussion, I kept hearing that the tax rate would have to rise by 10 mills to pay for a $35 million facility. That’s the kind of vote that costs elected officials their jobs, and that’s one reason the idea is on hold.
At some point, Pike County will have to build a new jail. But for now, the supervisors say they’re going to put significant money into upgrading the 32-year-old building they already have.
Lofton said he would favor a new jail only if nothing could be done to save the existing one. The board is setting aside $578,000 in its upcoming budget for renovations, and hopes to spend that much money on jail work each year in the future.
Gazzo said the first steps will be replacing showers and making sure cell doors and locks are working properly.
“I think the current focus of the board is to rehabilitate the jail we have,” Accardo said. “The board heard that quite a bit from the citizens.”
Gazzo said the county in 2026 will finish the 10-year payoff of a $2 million loan from 2015 for jail repairs. But future math says if supervisors stick to the upcoming plan of spending $578,000 a year, that would amount to $5.7 million in repairs over a decade.
“The problem with it is that it’s not money well spent,” said Accardo, who was the strongest advocate of a new jail before those plans halted. “It doesn’t matter what you do to that building. It will never meet standards or requirements.”
Lofton said, “What it’s going to come to, and it’s unfortunate, if we can make the repairs, great. But if we continue to get lawsuits (filed by inmates), we’re going to have federal judges down our throat.
“We’re probably going to have to wait for a judge to come in,” he added, and order the county to build a new jail.
Gazzo said Brandon Frazier, the supervisors’ attorney, has reduced the number of active lawsuits against the county from 44 to 5.
Circuit Judge Mike Taylor’s monthly census of the inmate population has helped reduce the prisoner count. That, along with building improvements by Sheriff Wally Jones and Maj. Jewel Hines, the jail administrator, have slowed the pace of inmate lawsuits.
Gazzo said he will “protect our taxpayers,” and added, “We simply can’t afford a new jail.”
In addition to the $2 million jail renovation loan that will be paid off next year, the county finished paying for another $900,000 loan this past April. Gazzo thinks the board should consider adding the millage from those two loans to the $578,000 it plans to spend on more jail work.
That’s worth considering. But Accardo correctly pointed out that at some point, the county will be spending more on renovations than it would on repaying a large loan for a new building.
Lofton said people tell him they know a jail doesn’t need to be a fancy hotel. But it does need to be inhabitable — “where there are doors that lock, where there is a ventilation system, where there are windows that are not welded closed to keep sunlight out 24-7. Even a place where we can begin to build their skill set for when they get out of jail.”
Problems supervisors face as time marches on:
• The jail is rarely top of mind among residents, unlike road and other responsibilities of the board. It only becomes an issue when something goes wrong there, like overcrowding.
• It is expensive to keep people behind bars, and there are stumbling blocks in the criminal justice system that need constant attention to prevent unnecessary court delays.
• One day, several years from now or even longer, the county will need a new jail. When that day arrives, the public safety vs. property taxes debate will not be fun.
