Voters to Decide Fate of New Jail and Courthouse in Iowa City

Johnson County is one step closer to a new jail and expanded courthouse.

Voters will ultimately decide the fate of the $39 million phase-one justice center project with a referendum bond, expected in 2012, according to County Supervisor Pat Harney, the chairman of the supervisors' facilities subcommittee.

The subcommittee is preparing information about the proposed 248-bed jail, justice center and expanded courthouse for the criminal justice coordinating committee, which includes all the Johnson County supervisors.

"That's the difficult part, with the economy the way it is," Harney said. "We need to show the facts surrounding the need for (the justice center) and let the voters decide."

In 2000, voters didn’t approve a bond for a new jail, but instead opted for a bond to expand the Iowa City Library.

Since then, the number of inmates has grown along with Johnson County, now the fourth largest county in Iowa.

“The jail simply hasn’t kept up with society and the growth of the area,” said Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. “It’s a major infrastructure need that the county has. Right now we have 160 to 180 inmates and only have capacity for 92, so we’re housing in Muscatine and Washington counties.”

The Johnson County Jail, built in 1981 and located at 511 South Capitol St., was originally designed for 46 prisoners, Pulkrabek said. The facility, including the storage and booking area, is too small.

“We can’t do any rehabilitation because we don’t have them in-house,” he said. “The inmates have limited access to family and attorneys, and they’re traveling on the road a lot.”

Pulkrabek added the cost of transporting and housing inmates in other counties has resulted in a hefty monthly inmate rental bill for taxpayers – an average of $107,000 each month, or $1,067,939 from July 1 through April 2011.

Besides the growing price tag of inmate rent, there are safety concerns about the existing Johnson County Courthouse, located at 417 South Clinton St.

"It's a beautiful building, but the issues surrounding the courthouse are security and safety," Supervisor Harney said. "It's just an old, outdated courthouse that needs to be adjusted, with some changes made."

Specifically, Harney noted the weight of the second floor County Clerk’s office has created a structural issue and needs to be moved to the basement, with the County Attorney’s office moved to the second floor.

Phase one includes $6,250,000 for renovation projects.

The Board of Supervisors chose the site of the new justice center and jail near the west end of the present courthouse and also the south side of the present courthouse.

The plan would include closing Harrison Street to the south of the courthouse and using that space to build on, Harney said.

Currently the judges don't have offices and jurors and prisoners sometimes have to walk past each other, with no room for segregating them — a major safety concern, he said.

The county has already purchased six pieces of private property near the jail and courthouse, according to Harney, and is in the process of trying to procure the last piece of private property on Capitol Street.

The seven-person subcommittee has also been working with the government services agency to purchase a parking lot, now used by Iowa City’s U.S. Post Office at 400 S. Clinton St., as part of the project and is "hopeful" a deal will be made, he said.

Phase one of the justice center would comprise 108,000 square feet, with an estimated four to five years to complete after the bond vote. Phase two would include 20,000 square feet, to be built 10 to 15 years after the first phase.

The final design for the project will depend on the cost, the space acquired and the voters, Harney added.