Jefferson County officials are taking the first steps toward the possibility of a new county jail.
The Jefferson County Council voted 6-0 in a closed session following its July 12 meeting to accept a contract to buy a 15.24-acre piece of property in Hillsboro that could be used to replace the current jail, which long has been deemed inadequate.
The contract calls for the county to pay the Queen Real Estate Partnership of De Soto $425,000 for the vacant land.
The County Council will take a preliminary vote to officially purchase the property at its July 26 meeting; a final vote likely will come Aug. 9.
The property, at Business 21 and Goldfinch Lane south of Hwy. A, has been on county officials’ radar screens for a while, County Executive Dennis Gannon said.
“We identified this particular piece of land more than a year ago,” Gannon said. “So many things over the last year have been put on the back burner because of COVID-19, but we kept in contact with the Jack Queen family and when the time was right, we made them an offer and it was accepted.”
He said he and other county officials have been on the lookout for a site to build a new courthouse and jail facility.
“While nothing’s been determined, I’d think it could be the site of the jail,” he said.
The Jefferson County Jail, 510 First St., in Hillsboro opened in 1991 to house 116 prisoners, but since then has been expanded to accommodate 334, although Sheriff Dave Marshak has said the number of prisoners housed there often exceeds that number.
The Jefferson County Courthouse, 300 Main St., in Hillsboro was built in 1863 and has had several updates and additions. For most of its life, it housed most county government departments and offices, but now, it primarily provides space for the 23rd Circuit Court operations, including courtrooms, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Circuit Clerk’s Office.
Both the jail and the courthouse have been deemed inadequate for their current uses, with renovations considered too costly.
Gannon said officials are on the lookout for land that might be suitable for a new courthouse complex.
“There is enough space in Hillsboro that we can keep both (new) facilities within the city limits,” he said.
Gannon said the Goldfinch property is particularly attractive because the county also owns a vacant 4.27-acre parcel adjacent to it and immediately south of the Juvenile Detention Center, 9501 Goldfinch Lane.
The juvenile facility is on a 3-acre lot at the foot of Goldfinch Lane and is next to another 1.76-acre lot owned by the county, but that vacant lot is not adjacent to the Queen property.
“This gives us some flexibility in what we can do there,” Gannon said.
He said a well operated by the city of Hillsboro on land surrounded by the Queen property makes the location more attractive.
“Whatever we will want to do there, we will likely need a ready source of water,” Gannon said.
The closing date of the Queen sale has been scheduled for late September.
Money for land deal available through sales tax
Gannon said the money to pay for the land purchase will be taken from an unanticipated growth in sales tax revenue.
Through the payment of July – which typically reflects sales through mid-May – sales tax revenue was up 9.86 percent over the same period in 2020 and following several years of modest growth.
The county’s daily operations are primarily funded through a 1/2-cent sales tax, with additional 1/2-cent sales taxes funding law enforcement efforts and road and bridge improvements.
“Not knowing what was going to happen with the pandemic, we budgeted very conservatively, so we have this excess that we can use for a purchase such as this,” Gannon said. “Because we have the money, and we feel this is an exceptional deal, we feel this is an appropriate action. And while I believe this will be money well spent, we will continue to be frugal, not knowing what’s going to happen with the economy. People don’t have to worry that we’re spending money we don’t have.”
Gannon said the offer was well within the parameters set by an appraisal of the property.
In addition to considering other real estate for a courthouse complex, Gannon said another step will be considering how to finance construction of the new facilities.
“A lot of times, you have your financing in place, then go look for real estate,” he said. “This is the opposite, but this is a location that really makes sense for us.”
Council member Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial) was absent from the meeting.