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Lincoln County approves funding for facility evaluation to guide long‑term jail plan
Summary
After a presentation from consultant Rich Siddens, commissioners voted to pay for an initial facility evaluation (to be funded from PILT) to document the county jail’s deficiencies and build cost and capacity estimates needed for any future bond or master plan.
Lincoln County commissioners voted to proceed with a consultant‑led facility evaluation of the county jail after a presentation from Rich Siddens of RS Security, who advised a three‑step process: evaluate the existing facility, develop planning and programming (including population projections), and perform master planning and site selection.
Siddens, who described decades of work on secure facilities, told the board an initial assessment would document code and standards gaps, produce an operational capacity for the current jail and identify where short‑term mitigations might be possible. “A jail is 6 to 800 bucks a square foot,” Siddens said as a rough industry order of magnitude for planning estimates. He cautioned commissioners that even with an immediate start on evaluation and planning, a full project could take years: “Even if you said start today, you could be seven to 10 years out.”
Commissioners and the sheriff discussed prior peer reviews and past studies; Siddens recommended compiling existing floor plans, average daily population figures and any past reports to speed the evaluation. The consultant proposed an initial budget just under $19,000 for the facility evaluation and explained the planning/programming and population‑projection work would follow.
The board moved and seconded a motion to proceed with the facility evaluation and to use PILT (payments in lieu of taxes) funds to pay for it. The motion passed after public comment was opened and none was offered.
What happens next: county staff will provide Siddens access to existing plans and population data so he can complete the assessment. Commissioners said documentation of deficiencies will be used to inform voters if a bond or other financing mechanism is later proposed. Siddens urged consistent public messaging and unified support from county leadership if the county pursues a bond in the future.
