Clay County officials considering a piece of property at 153 Cordell Hull Drive in Celina as a potential site for the new county jail.
The county working with Cope Architecture on a 22,014-square-foot facility with 168 parking spaces. It would hold 71 inmates. Clay County Mayor Dale Reagan said engineers have told the county commission that a new jail could fit on the property.
“As of right now the commissioners have pretty much verbally said that’s where they want it,” Reagan said. “We have not passed a resolution yet stating that but I’m sure that is just a formality that we got to do and everything.”
Reagan said engineers have estimated the cost to build the jail on Cordell Hull Drive to be between $14 and $15 million. That is cheaper than the $19 million the county quoted at a separate location. Reagan said the proposed jail location would also be more suitable for the county.
“We are hoping that this location will be a whole lot more convenient for the sheriff’s department and the courts, and the clerks, and everybody,” Reagan said. “It seems like everybody is on board with it pretty well.”
Reagan said having a potential location is a step in the right direction.
“I know this has been a process that has been ongoing for about, I’ve been here now going on 19 years and we have been working on this thing for several years and even before that,” Reagan said. “So hopefully, Lord be our helper and everything hopefully we are driving it toward the right direction.”
Regan said if the county gets approved for a $15 million loan to build the new jail, then the next step would be to do a construction management at-risk survey to determine the exact cost of building the jail would be.
Reagan said the county and sheriff’s department have had to downsize the plans for the new jail in an attempt to bring the cost of the project down.
