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Warren County voters to consider sales tax hike for new jail

Sheriff Martin Edwards says the current building has been deteriorating and unsafe for years.

MONMOUTH, Ill. — Warren County residents are set to vote on a measure to fund a new jail.

The county will decide whether to require 3 quarters of a percent sales tax to build the new facility.

"You're fighting a lot of issues just to keep this building alive at this point," Warren County Sheriff Martin Edwards said. "You're talking about jail ceils that are 100 years old."

Edwards said the current building has been deteriorating and unsafe for years.

"We have significant issues with how we house here as far as separating when necessary inmates," Edwards said. "In some cases, to separate people, in a particular instance, we might have to take them to the kitchen to interview them. A kitchen."

The department already contracts out to other agencies to house its female inmates due to state regulations on spacing.

"It's always been one thing after another," Edwards said. "This building cannot last forever. It's already exceeded its capabilities."

Edwards said the problems also include plumbing repairs and lack of work-space areas for investigations and inmates' visitors.

"It's a twofold issue, not only for the inmates that dwell here, but also the staff that works here," Edwards said. "The deputies essentially have no where to go in here."

The new facility would cost roughly $16 million with estimated construction in 2027. 

If passed, the sales tax would last 25 years unless the new building is paid off before then. The tax would exclude items such as groceries, farming equipment, car purchases and prescriptions.

The Illinois consolidated election is April 4.

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