FOND DU LAC – The next step toward a new Fond du Lac County Jail will happen this month.
The Fond du Lac County Board of Supervisors meeting agenda for Dec. 16 includes a resolution designating vacant land on Scott Road as the site of the future Fond du Lac County Jail facility, which would also authorize the county board and Public Safety Committee to seek Requests for Proposals of a phase one schematic design for construction phases of a jail, sheriff’s office and/or justice center.
The location was brought up in a presentation to county board members in February, as the county owns the land near the Fond du Lac County Highway Department.
Out of the options for construction, the highest estimated cost would involve moving the justice center — including the jail, sheriff’s office, courthouse and related offices — to Scott Road for about $393 million.
Kurt Berner of Wisconsin construction company Samuels Group, who led the presentation in February, warned at the time the cost of construction and labor will not go down if county leaders wait to build a new jail.
Why is a new jail necessary?
A Fond du Lac County Jail Ad Hoc Committee formed in June 2024 to explore and discuss options for expanding and replacing the county’s 70-year-old jail, finding that the current jail has space and safety concerns with no room to grow on the property.
Sometimes the jail sees bookings numbering more than 50 people in one weekend, but it only has space in the receiving cells for 12, Berner said at the meeting. Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt added that 20% to 25% of the jail population at any given time are not county residents.
Many safety issues come down to the building’s age: it was built in 1954, and its last expansion was 20 years ago. Berner said at the meeting that the average lifespan of this type of building is usually 30 to 50 years.
Was the existing site considered for renovation?
An option the committee considered was moving the jail and sheriff’s office to Scott Road and renovating the courthouse in the existing site, but more staff would be needed to accommodate transport between the jail and courthouse. The committee recommended the jail and courts stay together, if possible.
Keeping everything at the downtown site would require a full renovation with a housing addition, but the river complicates the construction of any addition. The committee also considered renovating the City/County Government Center, but that would displace government offices, and the space wouldn’t work without a much higher number of staff members. The estimated cost to make the current site work was estimated in February to be $267 million.
The county board meeting is at 6 p.m. Dec. 16 in the legislative chambers of the City/County Government Center, 160 S. Macy St.
The full presentation and more information on the timeline is available on the county website.
Daphne Lemke is the Streetwise reporter for the Fond du Lac Reporter. Contact her at dlemke@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Fond du Lac County Jail decision on agenda for board of supervisors
Reporting by Daphne Lemke, Fond du Lac Reporter / Fond du Lac Reporter
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