Commissioners revise jail expansion resolution
Polk County Enterprise, March 2007

LIVINGSTON – County Judge John Thompson called a special commissioners’ court meeting for 2 pm. Monday to revise a resolution on certificates of obligation to fund expansion of the Polk County jail.
Commissioners approved a resolution Monday that authorized publishing a notice of intention to issue up to $19 million in certificates of obligation. Later, county officials discovered the wording of the resolution did not permit any of the funds to be used on renovations in the existing facility, said Marcia Cook, the county judge’s administrative assistant.
The renovation plans include an additional with 230 beds, a new kitchen and laundry, according to Gary Adams, a planner and consultant with Adams & Fisher Architects.
The Texas Commission on Jail Standards recommended Polk County expand to accommodate 340 inmates in order to meet anticipated needs over the next 15 years.
A new sallyport (an entry area gated at both ends), receiving and processing area and sheriff’s office are also part of the expansion, Adams said.
The price tag for the project will likely be closer to $1 million, Thompson said Feb. 27.
Planners say a final price estimate won’t be ready until a purchase price for additional land is determined.
Thompson also said the jail expansion is necessitated by the state’s mandate that the county hold inmates.
“We would prefer not to have this obligation,” Thompson said.
In January, the number of inmates being held filled the Polk County jail, 24 additional beds at the IAH detention center and overflowed into another out-of-county facility.
Housing the overflow inmates cost about $15,000 in January, according to Sheriff Kenneth Hammack.