Officials outline need for new Clark County jail, present half‑percent sales tax levy plan

At a Springfield City Commission work session, county officials presented an overview of public‑safety facility needs and a proposal to fund a new county jail, saying the current building is overcrowded, in disrepair and cannot be remodeled to add capacity.

The presentation, delivered by Ginny Hutchinson, Clark County administrator, and Sheriff Clark during the commission’s informal meeting, summarized a feasibility study and a proposed funding plan that county leaders said includes $2 million in county reserves, an anticipated $15 million from a state capital fund and a half‑percent sales tax levy on the November ballot to finance the remainder of a roughly $85–$100 million construction estimate.

Hutchinson said the downtown jail was built in the late 1970s (opened 1980) and was designed to hold about 160 inmates; county officials reported the facility now averages more than 200 people housed there. Hutchinson said the building’s multilevel design and aging systems create recurring maintenance problems, including flooding tied to clogged toilets that in one instance forced the sheriff’s office out of its space for roughly three months. She said “over $3 to $5,000,000 worth of improvements” would be needed immediately if the county chose to keep the existing building in service.

A feasibility…