Construction of a new Howard County Jail is about to begin.
The construction of the $5 million project is estimated to take 18 months--during which time the jail in Cresco will not be usable. Howard County officials have been talking with Winneshiek County officials about housing Howard County prisoners in the Winneshiek County jail during that time.
Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx told Winneshiek County supervisors Monday that there's a "consensus" with Howard County about how such an arrangement would work. However, supervisors want time to study the proposed contract drawn up by Howard County's and Winneshiek County's County Attorneys. The contract was not finalized until late last week. Marx says the first Howard County prisoners could be sent to Decorah as early as February 5th, but supervisors say they still want to review the contract first before voting on it.
Marx says Howard County averages around eight prisoners a day in their jail--a slightly lower number than Winneshiek County's usual jail population. Having the two counties combined would mean 15 to 20 prisoners in the Winneshiek County Jail. Winneshiek County currently charges $50 a day to other counties to house prisoners. Marx estimates the contract with Howard County could bring in up to $200,000 in additional revenues to Winneshiek County.