KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The price tag for a new Jackson County Detention Center is going up, but how high those costs will soar aren’t known yet.
No matter the cost, Kansas City, Missouri, will now share it after the Jackson County Legislature adopted a resolution Monday “to explore a partnership with the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and its City Manager to jointly provide effective detention and rehabilitation services on the new Jackson County Detention Center campus.”
KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas welcomed the decision, which came on a 5-2 vote with one legislator absent and another abstaining.
“As I have shared repeatedly, it makes sense for our taxpayers, our community, and our safety that Jackson County work with the City on a new combined jail facility,” Lucas said in a statement to KSHB 41 News. “I thank the County Legislature for taking a positive step toward collaboration and for restarting the dialogue we at the City have wanted to continue since the summer.”
The resolution doesn’t go into detail about what changes the new collaboration might mean for the project, which broke ground in early September and is expected to be completed in 2025.
But it does signal the county’s intent to include “the City's formal participation in the design, construction, and operation of the planned Jackson County Detention Center in east Kansas City,” according to the resolution.
It’s unclear how much the city will contribute to the project financially, which will be more expensive than initially planned, but it would keep the current arrangement in which KCPD detainees are housed at the county jail facility.
KCMO City Manager Brian Platt emailed Jackson County Sheriff Darryl Forté and County Executive Frank White Jr. on June 26 with “a high level” proposal that outlined the city’s hopes for collaboration on the new detention center.
Platt’s email included the city’s vision for “a satellite facility for cells/living quarters” for inmates with shared services for other jail functions to be determined — possibly including a cafeteria, laundry, intake and mental health facility along with a “commingled detention center facility” that keeps municipal and county inmates separate.
“If the County wishes for the City to construct a separate living facility connected to shared services, the City would of course pay for the cost of that construction,” Platte wrote in his letter. “The City would also be willing to cover a portion of the cost of construction of shared services facilities.”
He said the city “does not necessarily have a construction budget,” which would be determined after the scope of the project was finalized.
KCMO hopes to have access to 100 to 300 beds at the new facility, Platt wrote.
Jackson County ended its agreement with the city and KCPD to house municipal inmates and detainees in June 2019.
The Heartland Center for Behavioral Change served as a temporary jail facility for the city, but it had issues with insurance as well securing inmates.
People being held by Kansas City Municipal Court order currently are house in the Vernon and Johnson county jails, so the city's court also cheered the new resolution.
"The Municipal Court is delighted that area leaders are moving forward in addressing the need for a city detention and rehabilitation facility," a statement sent from the Kansas City Municipal Court said. "The court reminds all involved that any successful endeavor in this area must address the unique needs of Kansas City inmates which differ from the needs of those incarcerated by the county."
The city detailed some of the unique challenges it faces and wants addressed in a document it posted Monday online.
The Jackson County Legislature approved fundsto buy the site for the new jail in July 2021.
County officials didn’t have a final figure for the project, but it’s going to be a lot more than the current $256-million estimate, according to a legislative update prepared late September.
“As recent budgets have been developed it is apparent that the program and design criteria will not be able to be constructed for the $256.5 million budget,” the report said.
The original budget included a 6% cost-escalator through the midpoint of the construction process, but actual cost-escalators through July 2022 were 17%.
“Additional delays in the project start have exacerbated the higher-than-normal future projected escalation amounts,” according to the report. “Various sources project similar higher than normal levels of escalation going forward, caused by supply chain, increased demand, labor shortages and inflation in raw materials.”
It’s unclear if or for how long the city’s inclusion in the project could impact the construction timeline for a new Jackson County Detention Center.
Dan Tarwater III, Theresa Cass Galvin and Ronald E. Finley put forth the resolution to move forward with a collaborative effort with the city.
A July 2020 study concluded that the new Jackson County Detention Center needed to add roughly 300 beds.
The current county jail is located at 1300 Cherry St. downtown. The new facility will be at 7000 East US 40 on the site of the former Heart Village Park.
All residents at the former mobile-home and RV park have been moved off the property under terms of a $1.7-million relocation plan approved by the legislature.
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