The Urbana City Council narrowly approved a special-use permit needed to begin construction of the Champaign County's satellite jail on Lierman Avenue. The new jail will have fewer total beds in a more modern facility. The old jail in downtown Urbana was closed last week.
The current jail was operationally insufficient, as inmates were faced with serious security, behavioral, and health challenges in multiple-occupancy cells. The expansion would include:
- Two new housing pods
- One with 49 beds and one with 29 beds
- Provide cells for inmates with special needs
- Would include four negative pressure medical observation/separation cells
- Six units containing two-to-five single occupancy rooms
- Cells for the general male and female populations
- Sight and sound separation between males and females
- Accommodate the female population plus overflow of the male population
- All double occupancy cells except for two units that will provide nine single-occupancy cells
According to the City of Urbana, the applicants had applied for a third special use permit to allow for the consolidation of the downtown and satellite detention centers by expanding the satellite facility and centralizing the majority of the County Correctional Facilities' staffing and resources in that location. The proposed addition would allow detainees to be relocated away from Downtown Urbana to the satellite detention center site. It would also allow for the satellite facility to be brought into further compliance with NIC standards and the ILPP Master Plan.
The site, 502 South Lierman Avenue, is approximately 20 acres and is located on the east side of South Lierman Avenue. It is part of the 120 acre Champaign County complex.
Illinois News Room states that the plan will decrease the maximum capacity of county jails from 295 beds to 219. However, the county jails haven't been operating at full capacity due to other constraints, like the need to separate certain inmates.
While the jail falls largely under the authority of Champaign County, the county needed a permit from the Urbana City Council to start construction. A narrow majority of councilors provided that permit, in a 4-3 vote.
The expansion would cost around $20 million and is slated to open in mid 2024. Champaign County is shouldering the construction costs. The next step for Champaign County is to hire a construction company, according to Sheriff Dustin Heuerman.
The News Gazette reports that according to the consolidation plan, the satellite jail additions will be financed through:
- $5 million in the county's federal coronavirus relief funds
- $13 million in revenue bonds up for repayment in the next 20 years
- The rest from capital funds
Currently, the satellite jail is not big enough to hold all of the inmates in Champaign County. Almost half of all inmates are being boarded outside of the county. The county's cost for sending inmates to other county jails, including those in Kankakee and Macon, is expected to exceed $2 million this year.
