What is the Berrien County Board of Commissioners going to do about the Berrien County Jail?

Discussions about the possible replacement of the facility have been taking place for years, but the high cost of building a new jail has prevented any plan from moving forward.

Berrien County Commissioner Rayonte Bell tells us repeatedly fixing up the old jail doesn’t seem like the best use of resources. However, there are problems when it comes to building a new jail.

“We know that it’s going to take some time to get us there to the point where we’re constructing a new jail,” Bell said. “One of the biggest hurdles is where we’re going to get the money. Back when we first started having a real conversation about it, we knew that it was going to be over $100 million, upward to $300 million to build a new jail.”

And that cost has certainly gone up substantially since the pandemic.

Bell said priority one is making sure the current jail is safe for both inmates and the sheriff’s department staff that work there. He does believe a conversation about the jail needs to be had, and he thinks one is looming. The county commission has discussed moving the jail to county property off Napier Avenue near the health department. That’s just one of many questions the body will have to ask itself.

The board in July accepted a $200,000 state grant to study its options for the jail.