County Commission Looking At Jail Expansion

Laramie County Commissioner Amber Ash says the commission is in the early stages of discussion on expansion of the county jail.

Ash says at some point the detention center will have to be expanded, and so far three alternatives have been mentioned.

One would be to expand the current jail by a couple of pods which could be added over the current jail's garage. While that would likely be the cheapest option, it may not add enough capacity to address the long term needs of the county.

A second option would be to purchase property adajcent the current jail and build on that. But once again there are questions as to whether enough jail capacity could be added to be a long-term solution.

Ash says a third option which has been mentioned, but not explored in depth at this point, would be to build a new jail at the Archer Complex.  Ash says the upside of that proposal would be the easy availibility of land to build on.

But there are security concerns about having to transport prisoners from Archer to the downtown courts, giving prisoners more opportunity for an escape than is currently the case where the jail is in proximity to the courts.