Apparently, building a new Oktibbeha County jail is like the weather: Everybody talks about it, but nobody ever does anything about it.
With the current jail approaching the end of its functional lifespan, there have been informal conversations about a new jail for quite some time.
During a joint meeting Tuesday afternoon of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors and Starkville Board of Aldermen at City Hall, officials seemed poised to take the first tentative steps in planning by agreeing to form a committee to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a new jail. But by the end of the meeting, that modest preparation for the inevitable was rejected.
The talking will continue, we presume, for what that’s worth.
How long before the county and city establish the groundwork for what will likely be a contentious process is anyone’s guess. What we do know is that the jail conditions will continue to deteriorate. Sooner or later, our elected officials are going to have to tackle this issue.
The clock is ticking.
The current jail is 34 years old, not old by most public buildings, which might last 50 to 100 years. The typical functional lifespan of a jail, however, is 30 to 40 years, which means the Oktibbeha County jail is a senior citizen jail.
Jail lifespans are shorter because of 24/7 use, which strains systems like HVAC, plumbing and electrical. Hard use and vandalism by unhappy residents is an aging factor, too, as are the changing standards for safety. Older jails are not easily retrofitted for new technology. In addition, maintenance is often a nightmare: It’s hard to dig up pipes and conduits that run beneath the jail cells where 72% of the cells are in use at any given time.
Another issue is location. The current site cannot accommodate the goal of expanding capacity for 125 to 175. It is also located just off Main Street, which isn’t exactly a Chamber of Commerce preference. Too small, too close to town, the city will argue. Why do we have to build it on county property, the supervisors will counter.
But the biggest issue will be how the new jail will be funded. The most likely option is by raising property taxes. That is a discussion aldermen and supervisors would just as soon avoid as long as possible.
The estimated cost of a new jail is $30 million to $40 million – today.
Who knows what the cost will be by the time the city and county actually start their planning.
Talking about a new jail needs to give way to preparing for it, no matter how unpleasant the process is likely to be.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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