A ten-person steering committee has recommended to the Chautauqua County Commission that a new jail and law enforcement center be built adjacent to the courthouse and that a one-cent sales tax be collected to pay for it.

Sheriff Perry Russell said the group has held meetings for several months following the closure of the jail on March 2 by the State Fire Marshal, citing safety and fire protection violations.

“We have gone through a problem-solving matrix to examine the pros and cons of continuing as we now are operating, as opposed to building a new facility,” said Russell.

County prisoners are currently being transported either to Elk County or Montgomery County for incarceration. “It has been hard on my budget to run these prisoners here and there,” said Russell. “There are only six of us, including me and the undersheriff so it keeps us on the road a lot.”

Russell said it was the steering committee’s finding that putting those same funds into building a new jail would save money in the long run.

“I know times are tough,” said Russell. “Nobody ever wants to build a jail. But in this case it makes good business sense to do so. Our old jail was built in the early 1920s and it has run its cycle.”

A county resolution is published in today’s Prairie Star authorizing the sales tax question to be placed on a ballot for Chautauqua County voters to decide. Although no specific date has been chosen for the election, the steering committee hopes it can be accomplished this year.

Russell said if the one-cent tax is approved by voters, he would then approach the Kansas Legislature to obtain the necessary legislation to get it accomplished.

“We feel the sales tax is a good way to finance the jail because ultimately it will be paid for by all the citizens, not just property owners,” Russell said.

Russell said the proposed sales tax would definitely contain a sunset clause which will cease the tax once the project is paid out, and he estimates that would be six to eight years.

“We still need to determine how big the jail will be,” said Russell. “Right now we’re estimating it to be large enough to house 20 to 24 prisoners. We hope to make it large enough to house a few inmates from other counties which would create addition revenue to help pay for the new facility.”

Members of the Jail Steering Committee are: Commissioner Danny Williams, Mike Campbell of Cedar Vale, Janet Hartley of Peru, Tim Nordell of rural Sedan, Linda Robinette of Cedar Vale, Doug Siebuhr, Elroy Smith of rural Sedan, Judy Tolbert from the Sedan City Council, Jack Newcomb from the eastern part of the county and Sheriff Russell.