The Boone County Sheriff and members of the public spoke during a hearing Tuesday for a proposed law enforcement services sales tax.
The Boone County Commission heard the proposal for the first time. It would add a three-eighths of a cent sales tax to fund the construction of a new Boone County Jail with 570 more beds.
The Boone County Jail is currently at capacity, and houses more detainees in out-of-county jails than in the the county jail due to a high number of court orders requiring defendants to be held in the Boone County Jail, according to a news release.
Currently there are 201 Boone County detainees held across 12 counties. 183 are held in Boone County jail.
During Tuesday's meeting, Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey said that sending detainees to jails in other counties costs around $100 dollars a bed per day. This year, the county is projecting it will spend $4 million on out-of-county detainees, a $1.5 million increase from 2025.
Carey said they have filled every jail in central Missouri.
"We have no more beds in central Missouri," Carey said. "At what point am I going to have to start talking to people in Iowa or Illinois?"
If the Boone County Commission approves the proposal, voters would decide the fate of the proposed tax during the Aug. 4 election.
Six residents spoke at Boone County Commission's public hearing. All spoke against the proposal or asked for the county to provide more information.
Several of the speakers agreed that the public needs more information before the proposal goes to a vote.
Rev. Molly Housh Gordon, a local pastor and member of the No New Jail network, believes this proposed tax increase will only cause more harm to low-income Boone County residents.
"We think it's going to make it harder for people to have their basic needs met," Housh Gordon said.
Columbia voters will also decide on a 1% sales tax to support the city's fire and police departments in the same Aug. 4 election.
The Columbia City Council unanimously approved putting the item before voters during Monday's meeting.
The tax would help fund improvements for the Columbia Police Department and Columbia Fire Department, adding improved facilities, equipment, operations and increasing staffing, according to a council memo.
Carey said he knows Columbia voters are in a tough economic situation with the current price of gas over $4 and rising grocery prices. He also said he knows it is bad timing with the proposed 1% sales tax in Columbia.
"I know this is not a good time... I'm smart enough to know this is not a good time," Carey said, "If there was any way that I could avoid doing this, I would."
Housh Gordon said she wishes the county would explore other options like ending cash bail instead of building more cells.
"It's a really easy first step to ease the crowding by removing folks who are simply there because they can't afford ($2,000 to $3,000) of bail," Housh Gordon said.
Carey said that the criminal "make up" of the Boone County Jail has greatly changed in the last few decades.
"Back in the day, you could just release 30 individuals that were misdemeanors just to get your numbers down," Carey said. "You can't do that anymore."
Currently at the jail there are 29 homicide, 63 armed criminal action, 24 unlawful use of a weapon, 31 robbery, 27 domestic violence, 10 assaults, 7 rape and 8 burglary suspects.
"You can't just release those individuals and put them back in society," Carey said.
The schematics of the new jail will also include 50 beds and a facility for mental health rehabilitation, Carey said. He also said more information about the jail will be available to the public when numbers are finalized.
The proposal will have a second reading on May 26.