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Q: Why do we need to update our jail?

A: The jail has become too small and unsafe for the number of inmates and for current security demands. State law requires Codington County to fix these problems. The historical average daily inmate population increased about 276% from 1985 to 2017. Since then, the population decreased due to COVID, but now seems to be increasing again. A conservative projection puts the daily average population at 90 twenty years from now.

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Q: How much would this cost? How will this affect property taxes?
A: The project would cost $37.24 million. This would be paid for with a $29.65 million bond and about $7.6 million that the county has saved for this purpose. The average cost to a Codington County homeowner is less than $9.70/month.

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Q: Why should we build better housing for inmates?
A. This is about providing a safe work environment for our officers and detaining inmates in a constitutional way. This gives us the proper tools and helps the County avoid lawsuits. The new jail will be made of concrete and steel. Cells will have steel bunks and a steel toilet and sink unit.

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Q: Isn’t a lot of the problem due to housing other counties’ inmates?

A: No. Inmates from other counties are less than 10% of our jail population. The County intends to raise the price of housing other counties’ inmates to cover a fair share of the cost of a new jail.

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Q: Can we expand the current jail into a bigger jail?
A: Remodeling the current jail into a safe jail that meets modern standards would be too expensive. However, the current jail building can be cost-effectively repurposed into court/county office space to save money and improve public access to county services.

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Q: What is the proposed plan to fix our problem with jail?
A: The proposed plan is to:
1. 2025: Build a new 108-bed jail (with a “shell” for 20 more future beds & sheriff’s operations office) on county-owned land on the north side of US Hwy 212 on the west edge of Watertown.
2. 2025-2026: Finish the sheriff’s department (as budget allows).
3. 2026-2028: Repurpose the current jail into court/county office space to save money and improve public access to county services.
(2026-2028 as budget allows)
4. Future: If needed, add 20 jail beds in empty “shell” space of new jail.

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Q: How does this benefit Codington County?
A: Some of the benefits to the County are:
1. Increased Public Safety. A modern, properly sized jail provides safety for jail staff and enables the justice system to detain those who are a risk to public safety. Public safety is bedrock for our quality of life.
2. Increased Court Security. A new jail would include an area for video hearings. This would minimize the movement of inmates to & from the courthouse.
3. Long Term Cost Savings.
• Operational efficiency of a modern jail will help control operational costs.
• Lessens Liability Risk. A safe secure jail helps avoid lawsuits based on poor jail conditions.
• Save on construction cost. The longer we wait to update the jail, the greater the cost of construction. Average annual inflation of construction costs over the last 10 years has been 4.3%.

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Q: Will 108 jail beds be enough?
A: While no one can predict the future, projections of inmate population using historical data indicate that 108 beds should be enough for many years to come. The County is taking precautions in case the jail population increases faster than projected:
• A 20-bed “shell” space has been included in the plan to ensure there is space for expansion
• The plan is to construct mostly 4-bed jail cells (instead of the traditional 2-bed cells). This will almost eliminate the need to use “dormitory” cells,’ but allow jail staff to maximize effective use of the overall jail space.
• The County, along with the Court, law enforcement and the community, is continually looking for alternatives to jail (see next FAQ) to slow jail population growth.

Q: Does the County have programs to reduce the need to jail people?
A: Yes. The County works with the Court system to minimize the need to jail offenders:
• The largest program is the 24/7 drug and alcohol testing program. There are typically about 100 people on 24/7, keeping our jail population from being even larger.
• “Teen Court” and other diversion programs help prevent juvenile offenders from entering the criminal justice system to reduce the number of future adult offenders.
• The County uses ankle monitors when possible.
• There are Court programs to reduce the number of those who return to jail by helping offenders change their behavior. This includes programs that encourage responsible living like drug court, and hope court.
• The County is currently developing a comprehensive program to help reduce substance abuse to help offenders not to re-offend and avoid going back to jail or avoid jail altogether.

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