Warren County considering building new jail

Warren County could get a new jail.

Recently, a citizen advisory committee made two recommendations… one to no longer pursue studies into the conditions and use of the current jail and the other to recommend the building of a new facility.

Sean Cavanaugh, District two board member and Chairman on the Buildings and Grounds Committee, says that the advisory committee was shocked by the conditions of the Warren County Jail.

“And so we formed the citizen advisory committee from people of all corners of the county all ages. They were given the opportunity to tour the facility and see the reports. And they were shocked.”

Cavanaugh said that the conditions at the jail are such that the county is trying to be proactive so that the Department of Corrections doesn’t shut them down.

He says the jail is very old, the original part of the facility — which is still in use — was built in the 1870s and the newest part is over 100 years old.

Cavanaugh adds that several committees have been formed to move forward and see what the options are for building a new jail.

“We’ve also, through the citizen advisory committee, formed three subcommittees. A finance committee, land acquisition committee, and a committee that will deal with cooperation between the City of Monmouth and Warren County governments to see what those options are. We have very responsible people heading those committees.”

He says that raising property taxes to fund the building of a new jail would not be considered.

Instead, they would bring a public facilities sales tax to the voter — and once the building has been paid off, the taxes would expire.

More on the interview with Sean Cavanaugh can be found here.

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