The Garvin County Board of Commissioners voted Monday to approve a feasibility study that will explore what it would take to build a new county jail facility.
Garvin County Sherriff Jim Mullett said there has been an ongoing dialogue for some time between the Sheriff’s Office and County Commissioners regarding the need for a new jail facility.
“This study will help formulate how we move forward,” Mullett said. “We still have a lot of research to do.”
The study will cost $13,600 and will be conducted by Goldberg Group Architects, a Missouri-based firm that specializes in justice architecture and jail facilities.
Garvin County’s current jail, located in the courthouse annex, was built in 1974 and has 72 beds.
“Our county isn’t getting any smaller. It’s getting bigger. We’re outgrowing our facility,” Mullet said. “I believe the commissioners see that, as well.”
The study will include a site analysis and a facility needs assessment, which will consider not only current needs but also future expansion, according to Goldberg Group representative Stan Florence, who spoke to the commissioners about the feasibility study during their regular meeting March 20.
“We want to make sure we build a facility that has adequate beds, but yet you can expand into as well. A needs assessment will take a look at that. We’ll take a look at the growth, at the sentencing that takes place in Garvin County, at contract beds - the potential for those - things of that nature,” Florence said, referring to contracts the county has to house inmates for other agencies.
In compiling the study, Goldberg Group will make use of existing design and concept drawings for a county jail which were completed in 2019, under former Sheriff Larry Rhodes. Mullett, who was undersheriff when those designs were commissioned, said the plans are for a 262-bed facility built in two phases. The first phase would include 170 beds, with the remaining 92 beds added in a later expansion.
As part of the study, the architecture firm will provide budget projections for construction as well as operational costs and will include a staffing assessment that will look at what it will take in terms of budget to staff a larger facility. It will also look at potential financing options available to the county for building a jail.
The study is expected to take three to four months to complete.