JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The cost to build a new jail in Jacksonville is climbing as city council members press for an infirmary at the new facility on the heels of the fourth in-custody death of the year.
Several city councilmembers mentioned the new jail could near a billion dollars at a meeting on Tuesday.
One city council member threw out that they could be looking in the $1.2 billion range, which is more than triple the $371 million serving as a placeholder in the capital improvement budget.
Price and location are the last things they’ll lock in, as right now, it’s all about deciding what they’ll need inside a new jail.
“Nobody gets excited about having to put money into the jail," said City Councilman Jimmy Peluso. "I’m certainly not excited about it. Frankly, it’s unfortunate we’re in this spot. But, it’s something we have to do.”
Jacksonville City Councilman Jimmy Peluso has spent six months working on a committee to see what a new jail will need.
One thing he feels needs to be addressed at the new jail – inmate deaths. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office just announced another in-custody death, which makes four so far this year to go with 15 last year.
“We should make sure that there’s an infirmary that has actual medical bays, actual cells for individuals to be in, especially if they need long-term care," said Peluso.
Right now, corrections officers have to transport inmates with a medical crisis to UF Health.
He’s hoping having a full-time staffed infirmary at the jail will help save time and inherently, save lives.
Peluso’s subcommittee focused on recidivism – making sure that when inmates are released, they don’t wind up back incarcerated.
“There’s a lot of great resources to inmates and those who are reentering society," said Peluso. "We want to make sure we have something close to the jail or within the jail.”
Of course, adding more things to the jail campus means more money.
“We were thinking it was going to be somewhere between $250-400 million," said City Councilman Rahman Johnson. "Just based on time that has gone by, us looking at other jails, it’s going to be North of $800 million, as high as $1.2 billion.
Johnson says the escalating price tag may not necessarily stretch out the timeline, he’s still optimistic it’ll only take three to five years to get the project planned out and financed.
However, he said the city may have to get creative and consider a public-private partnership to make it happen and not put so much pressure on taxpayers.
“Looking at the stadium, looking at the jail," said Johnson. "We own these facilities, and if we don’t take care of them, we become slumlords.”
Peluso said whatever happens with the jail, he wants to make sure the new one is set up for five-year reports, so they know what issues need to be addressed before it gets rundown.
That way the jail of the future never winds up in as poor of condition as the current one.