Sheriff and commission chairman say acquiring land is the first step toward building a new detention center
The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission has taken the first step toward building a new detention center with the purchase of a 177-acre track of land behind the Brewton Industrial Park.
The county paid $512,000 for the property that Sheriff Heath Jackson said is an ideal place to locate a new county jail.
“This is the first step in hopes of building a new county jail,” Jackson said. “It's in a perfect place, out of public view and won't be directly downtown.”
Jackson said one of many major issues with the current facility is the ability of people to simply walk up and toss contraband over the fence.
“If and when we build the new facility, it will cut contraband down,” he said.
Jackson also said the 177-acre track will allow the room to do other projects and also look to the future.
“We'll have room for a garden for our work release inmates,” he said. “We'll also have room to house livestock that we seize through the courts.”
Jackson said he and the county commission are working with an architect to design the new facility.
He said his plans are to design a facility that, 30 years down the road, the county will be able to add on.
“We're landlocked downtown,” Jackson said. “There's no where to go.”
He added that the next step is to come up with a plan to get the money to build the new facility.
“We're working on some options that won't cost the citizens of Escambia County,” Jackson said. “Like I said, this is the first step. You can't make plans unless you have the land available.”
Escambia County Commission Chairman Raymond Wiggins agreed that purchasing the land is the first step of many before the county builds a new detention center.
“The jail has been an issue we've had to deal with for years,” Wiggins said. “The biggest problem we have with the current facility is we are landlocked.”
Wiggins said the county looked at the property across the street from the current facility, but it wasn't feasible, noting the property is in a flood zone and across the street.
“We are in need of an addition and an upgrade,” Wiggins said. “It's not feasible to do that at the current location.”
Wiggins added that the county looked at several parcels of land and feels the property purchased is very suitable.
“It's something we have to address at some point, but we couldn't address it without having the property in place.”
Like Jackson, Wiggins said the next step will be to figure out a way to pay for the new facility.
“We're studying a lot of options,” Wiggins said.
