Cochise County facilities director outlines aging jail systems, energy-audit plan and funding shortfalls

Daryl Crowley, Cochise County director of facilities, told the Board of Supervisors during a work session that the county is managing a large and growing backlog of facility repairs and that the condition of existing jail infrastructure is driving near-term capital needs. Crowley said the facilities division recorded more than 1,200 work orders in the first nine months of the year and that “only about 30 of them are still open.”

The discussion centered on maintenance at multiple county properties and how possible funding scenarios — including a proposed jail tax — would shape whether the county pursues a large new jail or a smaller, lower-cost alternative. Crowley listed repeated water-line failures at the Bisbee jail and the Lisonbee site, kitchen electrical problems that have caused power outages, and a mix of HVAC units throughout the county that are past typical useful life.

Why it matters: Crowley and supervisors said replacing or bringing the county’s oldest systems up to current building and safety codes could be costly, and that building a new jail to today’s standards is substantially more expensive than maintaining older facilities. The board’s choice about a jail tax will…