The price tag for upgrades to the Johnson County Detention Center are going up.
This week, the county may add roughly another million dollars to the sheriff’s Office and Department of Corrections’ $5.8 million detention center improvement project.
Driving the news: At Thursday’s meeting, the Johnson County Public Building Commission — which also serves as the Board of County Commissioners — will consider a funding request for an additional $1.4 million towards the detention center upgrades.
- That would bring the project’s total cost to an amount not to exceed roughly $7.1 million.
What’s going on: The project encompasses improvements for both the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Corrections facilities.
- It includes the replacement of security electronic systems at the New Century Adult Detention Center in Gardner and the county’s central booking facility in Olathe.
- It also includes replacement of the security electronic systems at the Department of Corrections’ Juvenile Detention Center and the Youth and Family Services facility.
Details: The projects costs, if approved, would be broking down into roughly $6.2 million for the Sheriff’s Office and $972,867 for the Department of Corrections.
- The increase would come out of the county’s general fund.
Why now: Inflation has driven the costs up for various aspects of the capital project, according to county documents.
- Material availability and market conditions for the construction aspect of the project has also caused an overall cost increase, the documents say.
Bigger picture for Johnson County public safety
- This request comes as the latest in a number of county-level public safety costs to come before the board in recent weeks.
- In October, the board also approved a technology agreement that paved the way for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office to install 55 new license plate readers throughout the county.
