A move is underway in an Arizona border county to build a new jail, which will replace a facility built in 1985.
Cochise County voters on May 16 will be tasked with deciding on a new one-half cent sales tax, the revenue of which will be dedicated to building what could prove to be a $100 million new jail.
By design, the sales tax will have a life of 25 years.
The current Cochise County Jail is located at 203 N. Judd Drive in the city of Bisbee. According to county officials, that facility is no longer large enough to accommodate an increased inmate population. Designed for a population of just under 170 inmates, the jail has in recent years often housed twice that number.
In a meeting in April, Jail Commander Kenneth Bradshaw noted that because of the overcrowding a person who is being detailed for drunk driving may well end up in a cell with a person accused of murder.
Such crowding, continued Bradshaw, is “not safe for the inmates and it’s not safe for the staff.”
The facility is also plagued with several electrical system, safety, and structural issues.
The sales tax proposal has been the subject of several public input meetings, with participants often wanting to know exactly where the new jail will be built.
The possibility of the facility being built in Bisbee is not without support. In an interview with the Arizona Republic, Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge remarked: “It’s wise to put it where it already is. It’s already here.”
The current 47,000 square foot jail was built at a cost of $5.1 million, replacing jail facilities in the county courthouse that dated to the early 1930s.
By Garry Boulard
