Sheriff Dee Anderson vowed last week to campaign against the county's bond election if county commissioners propose building a maximum-security jail anywhere other than downtown Fort Worth. At a contentious meeting, the five-member Tarrant County Commissioners Court narrowed the list of options for new jail facilities, which is expected to go before voters next spring as part of a $350 million bond package.
But one of the two remaining options that commissioners are considering would expand existing jail facilities in Green Bay. Construction costs for that option would be about $40 million cheaper than the alternative plan to demolish an old jail building.
Anderson is opposed to the Green Bay expansion, which he says would require transporting high-risk inmates to and from court appearances and to medical services.
"We will not house maximum-security inmates at Green Bay as long as I'm sheriff," Anderson said. "I will not put the public at risk."
Transportation costs would also rise significantly, Anderson said, if more inmates are housed at the Green Bay site. Downtown business leaders have been opposed to constructing a new jail in the heart of Fort Worth. And some commissioners say downtown land owned by the county would be better used as commercial real estate than as a jail site. Discussion of the various jail options sparked heated exchanges between Anderson and county commissioners.
"What happens if we elect to provide jail beds somewhere where you do not want them?" Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Brooks asked Anderson.
"First of all, I won't support the bond election," Anderson responded.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Glen Whitley fired back sharply, with his voice raised: "I don't think we are reaching any compromise when the first words out of your mouth are that you will not house prisoners at the facility if we build it," Whitley told Anderson.
Whitley said he would like to see a corporate headquarters built on land owned by the county in the 300 block of West Belknap Street or high-rise apartments built where court records are now kept in a one-story warehouse in the 600 block of West Belknap Street.
"I think there has been some interest in those plots of land," Whitley said, "to turn around and build signature buildings like the RadioShack building."
Precinct 2 Commissioner Marti VanRavenswaay sought compromise with the option of building a new jail at the site of the old jail building, which is next to the Windham Building that houses the Fort Worth police headquarters. Some upper floors house county jail cells.
The plan to demolish the old building and construct a new jail on that site would require some land acquisition from Fort Worth and cost nearly $88 million. But Fort Worth is negotiating with Tarrant County about using the county jail once again to house its prisoners, Precinct 4 Commissioner J.D. Johnson said. In December 2001, Fort Worth ended a contract with Tarrant County to book and house its inmates. After four years of sending its inmates to Mansfield, Fort Worth officials are trying to return to the county. A larger booking area would be necessary to accommodate Fort Worth's prisoners, county jail officials say.
"I would favor tearing down the old county jail ... and we would be the owner of the city/county jail," Johnson said. "In 1987, the county was leaning toward building this new high-rise jail and courts building out on Kimbo Road. But what killed it was the transportation costs and the public's safety."
Commissioners, who have until February to detail the costs of the major projects in the bond proposal, are expecting to get another briefing in two weeks to including operating costs for the jail options.
Last week, commissioners were told that it would cost $122 million to build new medical examiner facilities and a new civil courts building and expand juvenile services. The county is also sorting through 120 transportation projects submitted by Tarrant County cities that would share $200 million of the bond package.