Plans have been confirmed for the building of a new jail in Pueblo County, Colorado.
The project has been long in the talking stage, but now members of the Pueblo Board of County Commissioners have given their approval to a resolution calling for the facility’s construction.
It is thought that it will cost at least $90 million to build the new detention facility, which will house around 650 beds and include an on-site infirmary.
The current county jail at 909 Court Street in the city of Pueblo was built in 1980 and is said to be in a deteriorating condition. Earlier reports indicate that, among other things, the bricks and mortar of the structure were coming apart.
A county jail task force in 2017 determined that the facility often suffers from overcrowding, with, on some occasions, upwards of 200 or more inmates beyond the building’s capacity.
The jail is primarily used to hold those arrested and accused of a crime on a temporary basis until they enter the court system.
Funding for the project will primarily come from the county’s marijuana sales tax revenue.
Work on the new jail could begin by the fall of 2022, with an anticipated completion date of late 2024.
By Garry Boulard