Stearns County to Unveil Plans for New Criminal Justice Center in Upcoming Work Session

(KNSI) – Stearns County is getting ready to reveal its latest plans for building a new criminal justice center.

The board of commissioners has set a work session to provide more information to the public. The meeting is Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. inside the board room in the downtown administrative building.

Since the election, the county has been working on final schematics and designs. Officials plan to build the new facility outside of downtown. In November, voters approved a 3/8th cent sales tax to cover the $325 million construction cost for the jail, courtrooms, sheriff and county attorney’s offices. The tax will be collected for the next 30 years.

The jail will increase capacity from 160 inmates to 270. For years, the Minnesota Department of Corrections warned the county the jail is beyond its useful life. The jail is constantly overcrowded, leading to the need to house inmates in other counties. Boarding them elsewhere costs between $500,000 and $1 million a year.

Any questions about the work session will be answered by the Stearns County Administrator’s Office at (320) 656-3601.

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