greene co mo active jail population springfield

The only solution was to build a jail with at least eight floors. Due to the limited space available at sites near downtown, architects struggled to find space for parking. Originally, the plan was to build the facility adjacent to the one downtown, which would have cost the county $62 million. Greene County residents approved a half-cent sales tax increase in 2017 to pay for the construction of a new jail.

But we can barely contain the inmates we have now, let alone the inmates we could have in the future.” We’ve increased the capacity of our jail to 601 through a bunch of remodels we’ve done. I mean we’ve done ankle bracelets we’ve done everything we can. “We did everything we can to lower that population. David Johnson, who is overseeing the new jail’s construction, told the News-Leader that continued use of their current facilities was “untenable.” More: $40 million in federal money might go fast, Springfield city manager warns councilĬapt. In 2017, overcapacity at the jail became such an issue that the county set up a series of “trailer jails” to temporarily house inmates, which were subject to a COVID-19 outbreak last summer. Today, the inmate population stands at 975. Instead, it reached full capacity by late 2002. That was meant to keep Greene County’s inmate population in check for more than a decade. View Gallery: See new Greene County jail, designed to combat overcapacity issuesĬonstruction of Greene County's new jail is well underway on the outskirts of Springfield, and officials claim the cost of the project will remain at or below its $150 million budget.ĭuring a tour of the new jail given to the News-Leader last week, officials described how the new structure aims to improve safety and foster better outcomes for inmates, but is ultimately designed with taxpayers in mind first.īuilt in 2001, the detention facility in downtown Springfield added a capacity of 500 inmates to the jail built in the 1970s.

Greene co mo active jail population springfield