Sedgwick County moves forward with $6.8 million jail expansion
Things have gotten pretty cramped these days in the district attorney’s office.
“I’m completely out of space here,” said District Attorney Marc Bennett. “I could not hire another attorney unless I doubled up and put two attorneys in one office. We literally converted a bathroom into an evidence locker.”
Help’s on the way.
To clear space for prosecutors in the congested courthouse, the Sedgwick County Commission this week approved borrowing $6.82 million to expand and renovate space in the county jail.
The project will allow the sheriff’s office to transfer about 40 of its employees to the jail, which is next door.
And that in turn will free more than 9,300 square feet that can be remodeled for use by the district attorney’s staff.
“The biggest problem that we’ve got is space in this facility and this is going to help open up some of that space,” said Commission Chairman David Dennis. “We appreciate how rapidly this is coming together because I know a lot of people are needing this space.”
County officials hope to complete the project by the end of the year, said Tania Cole, assistant county manager.
Eventually, county commissioners are hoping to buy or build a new government center to house their management offices, along with the staffs of the register of deeds, county treasurer and county clerk.
The existing courthouse would be exclusively used for court functions.
The commission appeared last year to have settled on buying the Riverview Building, a glass tower west of the current courthouse.
But that effort fell apart amid infighting among commissioners, who accused each other of improper conduct in connection with the real estate search.
Commissioners decided to leave the decision until after the election in November.
That election brought two new members to the five-member panel — Lacey Cruse, who unseated Richard Ranzau; and Pete Meitzner, who replaced Dave Unruh, who retired.
The jail expansion was approved unanimously.
Commissioner Jim Howell, who often opposes county debt on philosophical grounds, said this project meets his threshold for borrowing.
“This is unusual and it’s fairly expensive, and it’s something it would be very difficult to save up for, and I think it’s imperative to get this done sooner rather than later,” he said.
This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Sedgwick County moves forward with $6.8 million jail expansion."
