The Platte County Public Safety Committee has recommended construction of a $69 million addition to the existing jail in Platte City that would house more than 300 additional inmates.
Receipt of the committee report was presented as part of the Platte County Commission’s consent agenda at the Monday, Nov. 20 meeting, held at the Platte County Administration Center.
The committee has recommended bringing a tax issue to voters for either 1/4th or 3/8th cent for 10 years to fund the construction, which would expand the existing footprint into current parking lot areas.
“The recommendation before us today calls for construction of a new jail to be built adjacent to the existing jail in the vacant parking lot just north of where we sit here today,” said Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker. “It’s a solid recommendation made after examining many reports, speaking with experts and studying a variety of alternatives and I support this recommendation.”
Fricker thanked the committee for their work and said now the commission’s work is just beginning. Commissioners now will begin work with various consultants, attorneys, financial advisors and others to turn the committee’s proposal into an actionable plan.
“We will reach out to the public for their feedback and will work to educate them,” he said. “Most importantly, we’ll stay focused on the three very important principles of fiscal responsibility, transparency and the need for public safety.”
In July, commissioners sought applicants to serve on the public safety committee, eventually appointing April Baxter, Kenneth Brown, Pat Cockrill, Jim DePriest, Mark Ferguson, Roger Lewis, James McCall, and Greg Plumb.
Committee members were tasked with looking into the jail overcrowding problem and investigating possible solutions. Committee members used a jail population study by consultant Bill Garnos, a grand jury report on jail overcrowding in Platte County and various other architects, consultants and resources.
In October, the committee was told to limit recommendations to the current county footprint in Platte City.
According to the committee’s final report, the current jail is designed to hold 152 beds in seven pods and has recently housed more than 200 inmates, with many sleeping on mattresses on the floor. As of September 2023, the average daily population has been 194 inmates. Garnos predicted that based on anticipated continued growth in Platte County, the jail will require space for 464 inmates by 2048.
Additionally, most of the inmates are pre-trial detainees, and in Ahrens v. Thomas, a federal lawsuit in the late 1970s over the conditions in the Platte County jail at that time, it was determined that Platte County was constitutionally required to provide certain quality facilities for such pre-trial detainees.
The committee’s proposal calls for construction of a two-story stacked facility in the northwest corner of the current property. The new construction would contain 312 new beds in addition to the existing 152 beds for a total of 464 beds in at least 13 pods built in the same general arrangement as the current cells, day rooms, and security hub. Expansion of service areas, including kitchen, laundry, holding areas and attorney-client meeting rooms would be included.
The committee also considered estimates of the cost and how to pay for it. Based on the estimates provided by HMN Architects the cost for a stacked facility on the northwest corner of the current property would be about $69,696,246. Using a new sales tax for 10 years, assuming a 3% growth in tax revenue, based on the 2019 general sales tax (pre-COVID) at 1/4 of a cent would generate $56 million. At 3/8 of a cent would generate $84 million. Assuming a 3% growth rate, based on the 2022 general sale tax (after most of COVID) at 1/4 of a cent would generate $64 million. At 3/8 of a cent would generate $96 million. The county would need to seek financing, probably through general obligation bonds.