Questions brought up at the committee meeting Tuesday were whether or not a jail is needed, where the jail would be located, how many beds it would have, if it should be a regional facility and if the county should take on the project alone.
"My gut is to go it alone," Gooch said. "If we go it alone, we can still be a regional jail. We would know that jail is in Lincoln County, and we would have a position of power."
A potential money-maker
Gooch said a new facility could be a money-maker for the county if officials can market the facility as state of the art so it draws revenue-generating state inmates.
If it includes a special needs facility, that, too, will draw state inmates.
"Can I guarantee that?" Gooch asked. "No."
With a cost of $700,000 to $800,000 to transfer inmates to surrounding jails, it seemed that incurring costs of a new jail over paying other jails to house Lincoln County inmates is preferred by those in attendance at the committee meeting. But the ultimate decision rests with Fiscal Court.
"I don't think this county can afford to not build a facility," said Arlen Sanders, head of Stanford-Lincoln County Industrial Development Authority.
Judge-Executive Buckwheat Gilbert said Fiscal Court will address the question of jail or no jail at its next meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, where it seems likely members of the court will approve moving forward with jail plans.
The jail committee is scheduled to meet again 9 a.m. Oct. 16 at the courthouse. Gilbert said they hope to include some engineers who have worked with jails at the next jail committee meeting.
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So you know
Judge-Executive Buckwheat Gilbert said Lincoln County fiscal Court will address the question of jail or no jail at its next meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the courthouse, where it seems likely members will move forward with jail plans.
