MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ) - Authorities say Macomb County needs a new jail. But who's going to pay for it?
The county's Board of Commissioners has approved spending $720,000 to advance designs for a new jail.
Sheriff Anthony Wickersham says a new structure is necessary.
"Macomb County needs a new jail for now and into the future," he said. "Our currently facility is so outdated, we are using portions that were built in 1950, 1960. Our current practices of indirect supervision of inmates incarcerated is outdated. There's a better model that's safer for the staff and safer for the inmates called direct supervision."
Under the plan, a new nine-floor facility would be built on the existing jail property in Mount Clemens. In addition to adding more needed beds, plans for the facility include drug, alcohol and mental health screenings, as well as a program to prevent freed inmates from returning to a life of crime.
A proposal estimates the cost of a new facility, which would take three years to build, would be between $370 and $390 million. Officials haven't detailed how the jail would be paid for, but Wickersham said it will ultimately be up to county residents to vote for the approval of the necessary funding.
"In the end, it's the right direction for the future," he said. "We will do everything we can to make sure we're open and transparent... in how we can better service the inmates and the staff that's had to work in that facility for 25, 30 years in making Macomb County a safe place."
