Long-awaited $20 million expansion to begin on Portage County Jail

[kaltura-widget uiconfid=”38679501″ entryid=”1_666iybwt” responsive=”true” hoveringControls=”false” width=”100%” height=”56.25%” /] In roughly a $20 million expansion, the Portage County Jail will see an addition of 130 beds, a medical area, an indoor recreation room and a visiting area. Though the project is slated to start construction in March, the process has taken much longer.

Four years ago, Portage County Sheriff David Doak expressed concern over the growing female inmate population. At the time Todd Bragg, director of budget and finance, was trying to do a much smaller remodel that would add only around 30 beds. In November 2014, a property tax levy was placed on the ballot, but failed.

“Two things happened around that time,” Bragg said. “One: It became clear that the remodel was only going to meet our current needs, but leave us with little room for future growth. Two: A large segment of the population indicated that they wanted more than simply jail space to address the opioid epidemic.”

Bragg said that piecing together a comprehensive approach to satisfy all stakeholders took time. For a $20 million project, he does not believe that this was an unreasonable amount of time. 

“Could we have done it faster? Probably,” Bragg said. “Should we have? I don’t think so. Allowing for all that input and review is how you minimize waste. Even in the private sector, two years to complete the design phase of a $20 million expansion is not out of line.”

This expansion was definitely a necessity. With the opioid epidemic on the rise, both males and females are being forced into areas not meant for sleeping.

Portage County Judge, Kevin Poland, said that women have very little room for sleeping in jails. In an area suitable for 34 women, there are sometimes over 50. this overcrowding forces female inmates to sleep in common rooms, on the floor and in hallways. 

“Three weeks ago our population in the max ward, we were in the high 50’s,” Sheriff Doak said. “This means we have to put people on the floor.”

This expansion will definitely help combat the current needs due to overcrowding, but this is not the first time that Portage County has seen this issue.

“When we moved in it was like we were walking around in here, going ‘Wow, this place is huge,’” said Doak. “And here we are, 20 years later and it’s like we don’t even have closet space to put people.” 

The jail the sheriff is referring to was built due to a federal lawsuit. with overcrowding being a problem then, for much different reasons, the government stepped in to oversee the construction of the old prison. now, with the opioid epidemic, Portage County is trying to get ahead of the curve.

The two phase project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Phase one consists of building a new pod, which is a 130 bed expansion. The pod is expected to be occupied by April 2019, Bragg said. Phase 2 will be renovating the current spaces to ensure that they are working in the most efficient way possible. this will take the remainder of 2019.

A 0.25% tax increase that was put into place in 2016 will help pay for the expansion that will help reduce the overcrowding situation. However, as the opioid epidemic continues to rise, Doak  says he is unsure how long the solution will last and Bragg does not disagree.

“The reality is the opioid crisis is putting a severe strain on local resources,” Bragg said. “We do feel we’ve done the best we can with the information available to us, reinforcing the fact that taking time on the design and planning phase is not a luxury, but a necessity.”

 

 

 

Long-awaited $20 million expansion to begin on Portage County Jail https://t.co/Sg0a0vXUqD

— Dylan Thacker (@DylanThacker03) March 15, 2018

Portage County's Jail expansion is should help with over crowding #jmcrpp

— Jacob Thompson (@icameasjacob) March 14, 2018

With the Portage County Jail Expansion, the Jail can get all new beds, sinks and more #jmcrpp

— Jacob Thompson (@icameasjacob) March 15, 2018