County eyes land for new jail

The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission will likely make a decision at its next meeting on whether or not to execute an option to purchase an 80-acre tract of land from the city of Brewton for the possible site of a new detention center.

During Monday's commission meeting, commissioners were given a copy of the proposed agreement and were asked to look over it before the next meeting. Unless it's moved to March, the next scheduled commission meeting is 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24.

The agreement gives the county the option to purchase the land from the city for $250,000. If agreed to by the city and the county, the commission will have 24 months from the date the agreement is signed to purchase the land.

The agreement also gives the county the right to enter the property during the option period for the purpose of inspecting and determining whether or not the property is suitable for the anticipated construction.

The agreement also states that if the county has not commenced construction of a county building on the property within 24 months after the deed is delivered, the city of Brewton shall have the option to re-purchase the property for the price paid by the commission.

During an administrative workshop in July, 2019, the commission gave Sheriff Heath Jackson the go-ahead to discuss the possibility of purchasing an 80-acre tract of land from the city of Brewton in hopes of building a new detention center.

“We can't do anything with this jail,” Jackson told the commission in July. “We can't add on and building across the street is not an option.”

He said he had looked at several sites and felt the city's 80 acres on Highway 31 across from Southern Pine Electric Cooperative would be a good site.

Jackson told the commission the number of inmates being housed in the current detention center is not shrinking and as the number of inmates grows the county's liability also grows.

At the July meeting, Jackson said the current detention center was designed for 126 inmates and it was housing between 275 and 340 every day. He also said the jail was designed for 12 female inmates and at the time of the July meeting there were 65 female inmates being housed.

Jackson said he was proposing to build a 550-bed facility and increase the number of federal inmates being housed to help pay for the construction.

Jackson told the commission there were too many unknowns and variables to give a cost estimate on a new detention center. He also said if the commission gives the go-ahead to construct a new detention center it would take about nine months to have plans drawn and another two years to construct.