In plain language
Jail proposal offered
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HOUGHTON - Houghton County Jail Committee Co-Chair Faith Morrison proposed a resolution to define the November $28 million jail bond proposal in plain language, detailing eight specific project goals including a 60-inmate capacity, new site, and upgraded operational spaces. The proposal aims to address public feedback by clarifying that, among other things, the Sharon Avenue site will be used for a facility designed to meet Department of Corrections standards.
Morrison addressed the board of commissioners at the regular August meeting Tuesday,
"So this resolution is something I wrote with input with some members of the jail committee," she said. "This was motivated by many comments from the public that the formal language used by the lawyers to activate a bond which is on the ballot in November."
Among the project goals, the proposal says, is the jail will be Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOCC -compliant housing for at least 60 inmates of all classifications and so eliminate the risk of a jail shutdown and associated costs and loss of local control.
The document also stipulates the new facility, if approved, will be at a location that allows the sheriff to fulfill his jail oversight responsibilities while meeting the legal requirement of a primary office (within) city limits and moves the jail away from the downtown while still allowing fast response to calls inside and outside the city limits, and be of a size that enables the mandated classification and separation of inmates by age, gender, etc., with only a modest increase in overall effective capacity, including space for juveniles and proper segregation of high, medium and low security imates
Additional clarifications in the proposed language draft include that while the current jail on Houghton Avenue will be repurposed by the county, funding for the project will come from the jail millage. At the same time, the existing former church located at 9741 West Sharon Avenue will also be repurposed by the county, but will not be funded by the jail millage.
In short, the proposed $28 million, 30-year bond, if approved in November, will be dedicated to construction of the new jail, courtroom and sheriff's office.
In a Tuesday email to the commission members, Morrison said she believes the board, by adopting the verison of the draft resoultion would be an essential final step towards addressing the needs of the community for a new county jail that is in compliance with current MCOCC guidelines.