The idea’s been rejected twice, but Habersham County Commissioner Bruce Palmer still says a public authority is the best way to secure funding to build a new jail. The former commission chair made his remarks during a public safety town hall meeting on June 28.
Although Palmer said there’s no concrete plan at this time to build a jail, he called it one of the county’s “more pressing issues.”
Jail administrator Les Hendrix spoke of a plan for a 340-bed jail facility he estimates would cost north of $54 million. Referencing the design, he said it could be added onto as needed with the potential to house up to 540 inmates.
Cramped quarters
When the current Habersham County Detention Center opened in 1997, it was touted as a state-of-the-art, ‘will last us into the future’ facility. Within twelve years, the jail had developed porous leaks and rust, and the then– newly-elected Sheriff Joey Terrell was warning of potential lawsuits.
The current jail was built originally to house 130 offenders. Since then, the county has added 34 more beds, further compressing jail space. At present, there are 160 inmates housed in the facility.
Pre-COVID, Hendrix says Habersham was housing up to 230 inmates, with 70 to 80 housed out in other counties. Since the pandemic, he said many of the neighboring county jails won’t accept outside inmates.
“Nobody wants to take on other people’s problems,” said Hendrix.
Currently, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office is housing out between 15 to 30 inmates.
Hendrix said the larger jail would sustain the county for about 25 to 30 years without any additions. The additional build-outs would sustain the county for about another 50 years. He added that once a new jail is built, the sheriff’s office would continue to use its existing jail as office space for various divisions within the department.
Funding snags
Both Palmer and Hendrix discussed the fact that the Department of Justice could order the county to build a jail, how to build it, and then pass the bill on to the county to pay for it. They also discussed that at that point, it would have to follow federal guidelines in operating the jail, which is staff intensive.
While advocating for a new jail at a county commission meeting in February of last year, Terrell again brought up the potential for lawsuits. At that time, he estimated the cost of building a new jail at around $46 million.
The issue then and now is how to pay for it.
In 2019, voters rejected a $32 million bond referendum to build a 314-bed jail. Many of those same voters remain reluctant to approve another major capital spending project, particularly with outstanding SPLOST projects the county has already said it can’t afford and a $51 million bond debt on the county hospital.
Since 2022, county commissioners have twice rejected proposals to create and/or reactivate public authorities that could secure bonds for capital projects. Opponents of those plans view public authorities as an end-run around voters, but that hasn’t dissuaded Palmer.
He told the three residents who attended Wednesday’s town hall meeting and those watching the live stream that, in his view, a bond referendum on the ballot would fail again.
He then added, “The best way to build a jail is [for] an authority to build the jail.”
