Boone County jail is ‘busting at the seams’; sheriff says solution is passing Proposition L

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Jail is overcrowded, and it's costing the county millions to house detainees in other county jails across the state.

Sheriff Dwayne Carey's solution is to pass a 3/8-cent sales tax to build a new jail that would be more than twice the size of the current jail.

The current jail has 246 beds but can only hold about 200 people because of logistics, but there are about twice as many people as that detained. If Proposition L passes in November, it would allow the county to start building a 570-bed jail that can expand to 990 beds.

Proposition L and the proposed jail

Carey said the county expects to spend more than $4.6 million on housing detainees in jails outside of the county, a move that has climbed in cost over the last several years.

In 2022, the county spent $499,000 on out-of-county housing. Last year, the county spent about $2.5 million, a large jump compared to 2024, when the county spent $900,000.

• 2023: $800,000
• 2024: $900,000
• 2025: $2.5 million
• 2026: projected over $4.6 million

Carey said some detainees are sent to 14 counties in Missouri as far away as Carter and Greene counties -- both hours away.

A "yes" vote on Proposition L would allow collection of the tax to start in March, and the county would be able to access that fund in June.

Carey said it's estimated to bring in about $17 million annually, and the tax is set to expire at the end of 2042. It's expected to bring in about $255 million over the 15 years the tax is in place, but the jail will only cost an estimated $90 to $100 million to build.

The county will have to borrow the money through a bond, and Carey said debt repayment is about $10 million. The county will also have increased operating costs for the new jail because of its size and capacity. Carey also said he wants to save some of that money in case an add-on is needed.

Funding will also have to come from the county's general revenue fund. If passed, it will take about three to four years for the new jail to open.

"Actually, the $255 (million) might not even be enough, and people have a hard time understanding that, because they're looking at a big number, but over a 15-year span," Carey said.

Carey said the cost of materials, food and medical care could increase, making it an even more expensive project.

"We're basing the $90 to $100 million price off of today's pricing," Carey said.

If Proposition L doesn't pass, Carey said the county will have to cut budget.

"It's going to be bad. We're going to be looking probably at some budget cuts at the county level. Again, when you're talking about $4.6 to $5 million coming out of general revenue to pay for that (out-of-county housing), all county offices are going to suffer from that," Carey said.

Carey is also concerned about where to send people, as county jails across the state fill up or refuse Boone County detainees.

The new jail

Carey is planning to build the jail near the current one at 2121 County Drive, between the Boone County Fire Protection District Training Center and the Robert L. Perry Juvenile Center. It will go on a 93-acre plot of county-owned land.

He wants to have medical, mental health and reentry wings. Those programs are stunted in the current jail.

"We have one exam bed for 200 people, which is basically a walk-in closet," Carey said. "Being able to add some actual hospital beds, more ADA-compliant than we are now, but having them all in that one housing unit to where we can do therapy, we can do treatment, we can get them, for lack of a better term, regulated."

The new jail was also designed to add three separate wings that each have 140 beds if maximum capacity is reached. The new jail has the capacity to add 420 beds after the main 570-bed building is built.

There would also be a mental health and reentry service building that is offset from the main jail.

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