OREGON – While the exact configuration of a new jail in downtown Oregon is in limbo, Ogle County is still moving forward on the project.
Members of the board's Long Range Planning Committee recently planned a trip to DeKalb to check out its progress on a new jail, also being built downtown. County Board Member Don Griffin, Jr. said about 10 or so board members made the trip.
“We had a pretty good tour of how they've managed that entire facility,” he said.
At the County Board meeting on Tuesday, board member Zach Oltmanns said the members got some ideas about how Ogle County could do things with its proposed jail.
“I think it was a very good tour for us as County Board members,” he told the board.
The county is moving forward with looking at financing and construction options, but exactly how the building will be configured is still up in the air.
After the city of Oregon voted to not close a portion of Sixth Street for the construction of the jail, the county hired a law firm to consider legal remedies. It also asked the city for further negotiations.
Board Chairman Kim Gouker said the county did direct its lawyer to contact the city.
“We're still in a process of discussing that with them,” he said in an interview. “In the meantime, we're still going to do everything we can do that's not site-specific.”
The county has said that it will take legal action against the city if it won't negotiate on the partial closure of Sixth Street. The closure would allow the county to build a sallyport that would connect a new jail to the Judicial Center for the secure transport of inmates.
The proposal has a new jail would be built on county-owned land just west of the Judicial Center. The city approved zoning the property commercial. The jail would house between 180 to 200 prisoners and would cost a total of about $25 million.
The county has said that not having a sallyport would make it have to go with another option, which would be more expensive and less safe. The county has said adding above ground or underground walkways would add up to $2 million in construction costs.
