By C1 Staff
LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY, Mo. — The Lewis and Clark County are currently reviewing a list of companies who would help answer key questions toward building a new detention center.
The Independent Record reports that the county needs help identifying a site, cost and size of a new facility.
Overcrowding has become a serious concern for Sheriff Leo Dutton; the jail originally had a 58-bed capacity, but more beds were welded into the facility to make room for an influx of inmates.
Dutton said he wants a facility that will have room for expansion in perhaps 30 years.
The county commission had budgeted $150,000 toward hiring a consultant and hopes to have someone hired within 30 days of preparing a scope of work.
The consultant would then be expected to have a report prepared by the end of the year. Voters have been asked to approve a jail construction bond in November 2015.
One special consideration is the handling of mentally ill inmates, and will also look at the issues that prompt people to commit crimes in the first place.