During a recent work session to discuss the proposed Martin County Justice Center, Chief Deputy Corey Klanderud said he believed that the conversation of a new jail dates back to at least 2003.

With a little bit of searching through the Sentinel’s digital archives through the Martin County Historical Society, a Sentinel article from Nov. 1, 2003 came up which was headlined “Despite positives, county jail still faces issues.”

The article starts with, “For several years, the Martin County Jail has faced problems of being overcrowded and in violation of regulations passed in the late 1990s. While many steps have been taken in recent years to help make the jail and its staff more secure, the problems are still overwhelming.”

What’s more is that the then-sheriff, Brad Gerhardt, was quoted at the end of the article as saying, “My goal is not to leave a major headache for whomever comes in next. But one thing I will stand by is that if we are going to fix things, we’re going to fix them right, and err on the side of caution with public safety in mind.”

Now, that was over 20 years ago and there are still commissioners, county staff and a whole team of contractors trying to fix things, except now it appears that the current facility is beyond financially feasible repair. It’s already been said that when the facility was built in 1974 it was intended to be a 25 year facility. Yet last year it turned 50 years old. Keep in mind that the building is unique as it’s a 24/7 365 use facility.

Over the last 20 years, at least a dozen different county commissioners have sat on the board and no doubt heard about the issues with the jail. At the county’s 2024 truth in taxation public hearing, one former commissioner, Jean Burkhardt, who had sat on a past justice committee in the 2000s, publicly apologized to the board and said she was one of the commissioners who previously “kicked the can down the road.”

Three of the commissioners she apologized to have since retired but they all saw the necessity of the project and have brought it to where it presently is. Yet it seems like there are still some commissioners who are doubtful of the project and question whether constructing a new building is the best plan.

It’s certainly appropriate to ask questions. It’s a lot of money with an estimated total cost of $55 million, but as it’s been pointed out, the project is only going to get more expensive. We’ve seen the cost increase year over year and there’s little to no chance that it’s ever going to become less expensive.

It’s true that the referendum in the Martin County West school district has raised taxes on that half of the county, but in the next 10 years there could be one in the Granada-Huntley-East Chain or Fairmont School District, too.

Some believe there are other options but as it’s been pointed out, many have been exhausted. Do we really want to burden our smaller neighboring communities? Even if Martin County does send inmates to a nearby county jail, the issues with the current facility will still need to be addressed.

It’s not productive to question why more money wasn’t set aside for the project in the past. Nothing can be done about that now. The financing plan is in place with lease revenue and jail obligation bonds, the architects are on track and the land purchase terms are being finalized. It appears the project is all but teed up yet Board Chair Commissioner Richard Koons thinks it’s time to slow the ball game down.

Since 2017 the Martin County Commissioners have participated in 14 work sessions and half of them have been in the past two years with three in 2023 and four in 2024. That’s not including meetings that the core committee has held to go over needs assessments and plans with the contractors or regular board meetings where the topic comes up one way or another more often than not.

The reality is there’s never going to be a time that everyone is comfortable with doing this project. No one’s ever been excited to see their property taxes go up or spend money on something that they don’t deem essential. But there are wants and there are needs and if you listen to the sheriff’s office and the court administrators and the building maintenance staff who are in the building every day, and the results of various needs assessments conducted by professional organizations, they’re all saying that something needs to be done and soon.

So if now’s not the time for the Justice Center, then when? If this project is axed and set aside, five, seven or 10 years from now a headline in the Sentinel could read, “County considers $82 million Justice Center.”