Committee considers $50 million set-aside for jail improvement loans as counties report capacity and staffing crisis

Don Longmore, Chair of the Political Subdivisions Committee, presented House Bill 1213, amended to designate $50 million within the state’s infrastructure revolving loan fund for correctional facility improvements (renovation, expansion, or new construction) with a project cap suggested in committee (no more than $20 million per project as discussed). The original request presented to Political Subdivisions had sought a much larger amount (reported in committee as $200 million); the committee scaled that back and proposed a related study (House Bill 1197) to assess statewide needs.

Why it matters: County officials and the Association of Counties told the committee they are in a near‑term capacity crisis. Several regional and county jails are planning expansions or new construction; the association provided an aggregate estimate of roughly $250 million for five projects currently in…