Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Detention Center topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Caroline County moves to form detention center design committee after seminar; new facility estimated at $40M
Summary
Commissioners agreed to form a staff-led Detention Center Design Committee to analyze whether to renovate the existing jail or pursue a new 100‑bed facility estimated at roughly $40 million, with staff to coordinate with the Town of Denton and pursue state/federal funding.
Caroline County commissioners on Nov. 18 agreed to establish a Detention Center Design Committee after officials and an architect-led seminar outlined limitations of the current facility and modern design requirements.
County leaders said the county’s current jail is aged, lacks program and medical space, and cannot easily accommodate gender-, age- and security-class separations now required by modern corrections standards. County staff cited a Wharton estimate that a fully compliant local facility would need about 100 beds and roughly 40,000 square feet.
County officials estimated structural construction costs at about $800 per square foot, putting a rough structural-price estimate near $40 million; the state is expected to pick up approximately half of that total under current funding models, leaving an approximate $20 million county capital obligation. Commissioners and staff repeatedly cautioned these numbers are preliminary and subject to design, scope and funding changes.
Commissioners described the committee as primarily a county‑staff body—including detention/corrections, finance/grants, public works/facilities, emergency services and county attorney staff—to review policies and translate operational needs into design requirements. The board also directed staff to open discussions with the Town of Denton about utilities and potential annexation if the county pursues an off‑site location (for example, the Double Hills/industrial park area) requiring municipal connections.
Commissioners stressed the complexity of modern detention design—negative‑pressure cells for infectious disease control, separate program space for mental‑health and medically assisted treatment, and physical separation of juveniles and adults—and the cost and operational impacts of renovating an occupied facility versus building new. The board noted renovation of roughly one-third of the existing building had previously been estimated at $8 million but would leave exterior and foundational limitations that restrict future expansion.
Next steps: staff will assemble the recommended committee membership, meet with the Town of Denton, attend the scheduled Nov. 22 state funding meeting, and return with a proposed committee charters and a schedule for needs assessment and funding strategy.
