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Adams County commissioners reaffirm on-site renovation path for county jail, advance COP financing work
Summary
County staff and commissioners agreed to continue with an onsite renovation-and-layground expansion path for the Adams County detention center and to pursue certificates of participation (COPs) while preparing more-detailed bed counts and a public education campaign ahead of any ballot ask.
County commissioners on Tuesday reiterated a previously chosen path to fix the Adams County detention center: renovate and, where feasible, allow for future expansion at the existing site rather than immediately pursuing a new facility. The board instructed staff to continue design and financing work on certificates of participation (COPs) and to return with more-detailed cost and bed-count analyses.
The decision hewed to the board’s earlier direction, staff said. Dion, the county staff lead for the project, reminded commissioners that the board selected a renovation-and-expansion path at a prior session: “We have chosen renovation and expansion at the current facility,” she said, calling it a pragmatic course given current financing and timing constraints.
Finance staff outlined three broad funding options and said the county is proceeding primarily on a COP strategy that spreads costs over several years. Patina (finance staff) said COPs would not be a single-year expenditure and require a months-long issuance process; issuing voter-approved debt would mean asking taxpayers for a much larger amount — scenarios staff has modeled range up to the high hundreds of millions or more.
The sheriff’s office indicated support for moving forward on the current path while continuing to press for long-term solutions. The sheriff said the county must have “a facility that we can depend on that is not a health or an occupational risk to either the inmates or our staff,” and supported the renovation-first approach as a way to address immediate life-safety needs while keeping options open for later expansion.
Commissioners emphasized that pursuing COPs does not foreclose future ballot measures. Several said the county should maintain a sustained public-education effort so voters understand any future funding ask; staff reported the county completed an RFP for outreach consultants and budgeted education work in the 2026 operating plan.
Next steps: staff committed to quarterly study-session updates, ongoing project-team meetings that include finance, and a dedicated follow-up session to review the newly delivered bed-study and programming analysis before the board takes any additional directional votes.
