JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group will gather Tuesday evening at City Hall to challenge a plan to move the Duval County jail out of downtown Jacksonville.
This issue of whether to renovate or relocate the jail has been debated for years, and now some residents in Duval County want to be sure their voices are heard.
The Jacksonville Community Action Committee wants the current jail restored rather than building a new facility. They are arguing that the public hasn’t had enough say on where a new jail should be built, or if it should be built at all.
The cost of constructing a new jail is estimated to be around $1 billion.
Monica Gold with the JCAC has been at the forefront of pushing city leaders to let the public have more of a voice when it comes to a proposed jail in Duval County.
“Our community has a lot of concerns, a lot of issues that need to be addressed, and that involves funding. So, we are saying those things should be funded rather than a new billion-dollar jail,” Gold said.
This comes amid concerns about the current jail’s conditions.
Multiple city leaders across party lines, including Mayor Donna Deegan, have said the current jail is close to being beyond repair to the point where safety for the inmates is a huge concern.
In March, three groups submitted an unsolicited proposal to the city that is about 100 pages long and mentions that the jail should be designed in a way that “can handle future growth,” citing that the current jail holds about 2,600 people even though it was designed to hold just over 2,100.
The plans for the jail, which were submitted by Sustainability Partners, Ajax, and HOK, were also accompanied by a statement from Deegan’s, which reads:
The decision has been made to move forward with an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a feasibility study, which will outline the process for site selection and determine the type of facilities that will be constructed on the selected site. The Mayor’s Office, JSO, and City of Jacksonville Procurement Division will be working to develop the RFP, and we expect it to hit the street in approximately one month.
Spokesperson for Mayor Donna Deegan
Despite the unsolicited proposal, Councilman Ron Salem, who has been advocating for the new jail project for years, expressed his support for a competitive process.
“I just know personally that unless it’s a competitive process, I’m not interested in it,” he said. He emphasized the urgency of the situation, noting that the current jail is in poor condition.
“We infused, the council did, $10 million a year and a half, two years ago, to buy us some time. So, it is important that this process begin moving forward so we can get a jail started,” Salem added.
Gold told News4JAX she agrees the conditions of the jail need to be better. However, she doesn’t feel that building a new facility will solve the issues, instead, she wants the current jail to be renovated.
But Councilman Michael Boylan, chair of the special committee, said he believes a new jail could help those who are incarcerated.
“The kind of facility we need to build is far different from what we see today. I expect it to be a campus-style facility,” Boylan said. “When you have 60%-70% of the people incarcerated in our jail today with mental health or behavioral health issues, we need a facility or a portion of a facility that directs and speaks to their issues and provides them the kind of care and services they need to become productive citizens.”
But the JCAC says the $1 billion should be spent on improving neighborhoods, rather than building a new jail facility.
The group is encouraging the community to gather at City Hall for Tuesday’s 5 p.m. City Council meeting, and to submit their names for public comment so they can argue their point to the council.
Boylan, though, said he hopes those who are concerned about relocating the jail really understand what’s at stake.
“Those folks that are very frustrated by the prospect of a ‘new jail’ are thinking of it in the context of what we have today,” Boylan explained. “That is not at all what we are looking to see built in the future.”
