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Commissioners approve about $5 million in capital projects, greenlight jail upgrades and vehicle purchases
Summary
The board approved a slate of capital projects totaling roughly $5 million, including jail kitchen and security upgrades, vehicle replacements and other facility investments; commissioners removed a jail scanner from the package pending further review.
Richland County commissioners approved adjusted capital projects on Dec. 9 that staff said amount to roughly $5 million across immediate 2025 and proposed 2026 projects, including significant work at the county jail and equipment replacements.
County maintenance and buildings director (Josh) presented $2.5 million of capital requests; commissioners moved to approve those requests as adjusted in the meeting. For the jail specifically, the board approved a $550,000 kitchen project plus door and key-control upgrades; the scanner item was removed pending further study, which reduced the subset from about $775,000 to roughly $615,000 as presented to the board.
The board also discussed replacing sheriff cruisers and agreed staff could use available proceeds from selling old cruisers and parts and consider one or more additional cruiser purchases (commissioners discussed an equipped cost of about $75,000 per unit). Commissioners asked staff to pursue alternate revenue and grants where appropriate and to prioritize essential safety-related items.
Commissioners voted to approve the adjusted capital package and directed staff to account for any surplus or contingency in the general fund to replenish capital balances in future periods.
