AUGUST - 2007

County increases jail expansion project to include 128 more beds

The Johnson County Public Building Commission (PBC) has given the green light to add an additional 128 beds to the Phase II jail expansion plans.

The additional beds will increase the overall capacity of the planned expansion by 30 percent – from 426 beds to 554 beds – while adding approximately 10 percent to the project cost. The extra beds would reduce the need for the county to rely on the farming out of inmates to other Kansas jails.

The project involves the expansion of the Adult Detention Center located in the Fred Allenbrand Criminal Justice Complex at the New Century AirCenter located at the northeast edge of Gardner. The PBC authorized $55,470,000 for the expansion on August 18, 2005, involving a project with 416 beds with an additional 10 beds being provided in the final design plans.

On Thursday, August 2, the PBC voted unanimously to increase the project authorization by $4,830,000 to add the extra 128 beds for a total capacity of 554 beds. The revised project authorization was set at $60.3 million.

In a briefing sheet, Joe Waters, director of the Facilities Department, said the additional work “will not add time to the design process nor will it extend the final completion date of the project.”

According to Waters, the stacked, repetitive nature of the detention center makes it attractive to add the extra space and beds with “relative ease and at a comparatively low price.”

The jail expansion project is being designed by Treanor Architects in association with Helmuth, Obata + Kassebaum, Inc. and being built by Turner Construction. Work is expected to begin in mid-October with completion by mid-2009.

The extra 128 beds will be used for inmates in minimum and medium security custody (64 beds for each unit) by expanding the project vertically with construction of a third level to the jail addition as currently designed.

When completed, the total expansion project will have 50 beds for maximum custody and 384 beds for minimum/medium custody. Other beds will be used for inmates being segregated from the inmate population or requiring special needs while in custody.

Johnson County has been boarding inmates in other Kansas jails for years and recently renewed contracts with 18 Kansas counties to continue to do so through the next year.

The county now averages farming out more than 350 inmates a day across Kansas as far away as Lyons in Rice County, which is about 240 miles from Johnson County.

In 2006, Johnson County paid slightly more than $4.8 million in contract costs to other Kansas counties to house its inmates. The total cost was estimated at almost $8.7 million, including the salaries of deputies to escort the inmates to and from the other jails, vehicle expenses, and fuel costs.

The second phase 554-bed expansion is expected to provide a little breathing room in dealing with jail overcrowding, the cost of farming out inmates elsewhere, and suggestions that the county may need to build another jail expansion soon after the current project is completed in two years.

The project will increase the county’s overall jail capacity to 1,088 beds, including the existing 264 beds at the AirCenter and 270 beds at the Adult Detention Center in downtown Olathe. Projections call for the county to need 1,071 beds in 2009.

The need for more jail space is expected to continue to increase in years to come with consultants calling for a future third expansion of the AirCenter jail by 752 beds at an estimated cost of $148 million. Projections have indicated the county will need a jail capacity of 1,507 by 2015 and 1,884 by 2020.

The proposed Phase III jail project has not been approved or funded by either the PBC or Johnson County Board of Commissioners.

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U.S. 69 interchange CLOSED to work on 199th Street Improvement Project

The interchange at U.S. 69 Highway and 199th Street in Southeast Johnson County has been closed as part of the Phase II construction of the 199th Street Improvement Project from Metcalf Avenue to Antioch Road.

The interchange was closed July 25. The closure is scheduled for 40 calendar days which would mean completion no later than September 3. However, in an effort to reduce the impact on local business, Johnson County and Kansas Department of Transportation included an incentive clause in the construction contract paying the contractor up to an additional $30,000 to complete the Phase II improvements and open the interchange within 20 days, which could be as early as August 13.

In response to concerns by residents and businesses in the Stilwell area, the Johnson County Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has added additional directional signage along the posted detour, which is a half mile on either side of U.S. 69 Highway at Antioch Road on the west and at Metcalf Avenue on the east, to aid the traveling public in accessing the businesses within the construction zone. Posting of the signs was completed Tuesday, July 31.

Access along the detour will remain open to all businesses throughout the construction project.

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Public hearing planned on October 30 about Overland Park annexation

Johnson County has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, October 30, regarding a petition by the city of Overland Park to annex approximately 15 square miles into its city limits.

The hearing will begin at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Blue Valley High School, 6001 West 159th Street, Stilwell.

The scheduling of the hearing was approved Thursday, August 23, by unanimous vote by the Johnson County Board of Commissioners during its weekly business session. The Board also was presented an official petition at the meeting regarding the proposed annexation by Bob Watson, city attorney for Overland Park.

Richard Lind, Deputy County Counselor, advised the Board that state law requires the county to have a public hearing between 60 to 70 days on an annexation request once the petition has been formally presented to the Board. That requirement meant the hearing had to occur between October 22 and November 1.

On August 20, the Overland Park City Council approved the annexation plan by unanimous vote. The plan involves approximately 9,569 acres south of the city’s current southern boundary.

The proposed annexation area is generally located west of U.S. 69 Highway, north of an east-west line located generally one-half mile south of 199th Street, and east of Lackman Road on the west. It does not include land in the Aubry Township lying north of 175th Street and west of Pflumm Road.

Following the October 30th public hearing, the Board of County Commissioners must either approve or deny the annexation petition during a future public business session. The date of when the issue will be placed on the Board’s agenda for consideration and action will be announced later.

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