The Christian County Fiscal Court is looking into the future of the county government buildings, and looking into ways to help the Christian County Jail become more self-sustaining.
Appearing on the WHOP Early Bird Show Thursday, Christian County Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam says his administration and magistrate are looking into developing a master plan, where they will examine what needs their county government buildings have and how they can best address them.
He says many of their buildings are getting up there in years, and will likely need some updating—including new HVAC systems.
One of the buildings they’ll be looking into is the Christian County Jail, with Judge Gilliam commending the staff that work hard to keep things running smoothly in an older building.
Counties across the state—and the nation—are having to consider the financial burden jails bring to county governments, through no fault of their own. Counties must have somewhere to house the incarcerated, and that comes with costs. Judge Gilliam says they’re looking into ways the local jail can start breaking even on their costs again, which hasn’t happened since before the pandemic, and he’s hopeful legislators will be amenable to some changes.
He says Jailer Adam Smith and his administration are being proactive on the measure, including starting an agreement with Fort Campbell to house incarcerated soldiers and working to become complaint with federal regulations to being housing federal inmates, all of which could bring more revenue into the jail.
A jail bringing in it’s own revenue means it would ultimately be less burden on county residents, as fiscal court would have to put less dollars into maintaining it.