County advances $67,000 community survey option for sheriff’s office and jail; board to form CJCC subcommittee

The University of Iowa Center for Social Science Innovation (CSSI) presented a revised proposal to Johnson County supervisors on March 12 for a community perspectives project about the county’s proposed sheriff’s office and jail project.

Ethan, a CSSI researcher, said the firm trimmed its original proposal to meet budget constraints while retaining both a mailed survey and targeted focus groups. “The new budget is down to that 67 that is both with the the mail survey and the focus groups. If we just did the mail survey, it would be 53,” Ethan said. CSSI detailed methodological changes intended to control costs while preserving response quality: embedding a QR code in mailed packets to allow a text-push-to-web response, sending a single-language (English) packet with Spanish-language instructions and an online Spanish version available via QR code, and reducing phone follow-ups from four attempts to two (with continued follow-up if an initial contact shows interest).

CSSI told the board it expects the mail-plus-focus-groups option to give both a quantitative baseline (targeting roughly 400 completed surveys) and qualitative context from three focus groups. Cassidy, a CSSI team member referenced in the discussion, said staff could design focus-group selection after preliminary survey results to probe themes that emerge.

Supervisors and county staff raised two substantive concerns. First, county staff and the sheriff’s consultant (Shive Hattery) are performing site and design-focused outreach and feasibility work that could overlap with CSSI’s public-perception study; supervisors asked staff to avoid duplication and coordinate how CSSI outputs would be shared with Shive Hattery and the sheriff’s team. Second, county counsel noted that plans for remodeling or new construction must be submitted to the jail inspector under Iowa administrative code; Brad (county staff) said the inspection unit requires plan submittal and approval within a 60-day window prior to bid letting. Brad emphasized that public feedback should be pursued at a time when it can meaningfully inform proposals and still meet code requirements.

The board expressed support for proceeding. Supervisors indicated they were comfortable pursuing the CSSI contract at the $67,000 level for both survey and focus groups while keeping the option to sign a two-part approach (survey first, focus groups later) to manage cost and timing. The board directed staff to finalize the contract with CSSI and to bring it back to the board within two to three weeks. Supervisors also asked staff to convene a smaller subcommittee of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC) to guide public-engagement work; county staff said they would request volunteers from CJCC and select one or two supervisors to serve on the subcommittee.

No formal contract vote was taken at the March 12 work session; staff said a finalized agreement will return for formal action.