Last week commissioners approved a contract with a local architect to expand the Platte County Detention Center.
The contract with HMN Architects for $195,000 in services was presented by new county administrator Wes Minder.
At the Tuesday, Feb. 20 meeting, held at the Platte County Administration Center in Platte City, commissioners discussed needs at the detention center in the same government complex. Architects will look at the current facilities, with an eye to maintaining the existing building footprint to minimize the impact downtown.
“We are in downtown Platte City and we want to be good neighbors here,” Minder said.
The current Platte County Detention Center was completed in 1998 and is at capacity.
Scope of work on a 320-bed facility would begin in March with a draft plan in ready for review in May.
“At the beginning of this year, Platte County received an updated jail study,” said District Commissioner Joe Vanover. “The updated report shows the jail was over capacity throughout 2023. The report shows the average daily population and the high-low population of the jail. The average daily population for 2023 was 195. In each month in 2023, the jail hit at least one point where there were over 200 inmates.”
Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker said following the 85 percent rule – an industry standard stating that due to federal separation standards stating certain prisoner populations cannot be housed together – that the maximum safe occupancy of the jail is around 155 detainees.
“There are certain bad guys we don’t want out on the streets,” said District Commissioner Dagmar Wood. “This is also a safety issue for our law enforcement personnel. In these cramped quarters, it makes for a very agitated population and people act up more. People get hurt.”
According to the jail 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. Jail consultant Bill Garnos has 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 at that time 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.