Detroit — Citing prohibitive costs and difficult logistics, Wayne County commissioners removed a proposal to build a jail and criminal justice center at a shuttered state facility on Mound Road.
The resolution, passed Thursday by a commission committee of the whole, allows the county to explore options for the construction of a new jail or to revamp existing structures.
“As we further narrow our options we get closer to the finish line,” said Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak, D-Dearborn. “When we take a major option off the table it keeps our focus in an area where we can actually get something done.”
The resolution will go to the full board for a vote Oct. 16.
For nearly a year, officials have heard the pros and cons of finishing construction on a jail downtown at Gratiot and Madison or moving operations to the former prison facility on Mound. About a month ago, officials from the office of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano released cost estimates for the Greektown and Mound plans — each of which involve tens of millions to hundreds of millions more than originally approved.
Commissioners approved $300 million in bonds when the plan was approved in 2011. Ficano ordered the project halted in June 2013, when estimates soared to $391 million.
About $160 million has been spent on the unfinished jail. Estimates on its completion would total $372.5 million. Building a jail, a courthouse and a juvenile detention facility at the Mound site would cost up to $651 million.
“Ultimately, this is a business decision that must take into account what is in the best interests of county taxpayers,” Ficano said in a statement. “At this point in time, the county does not have the financial wherewithal to pay an additional $260 million to build new court and juvenile detention facilities, neither of which were part of the original jail project plan. Absent significant financial assistance from the State of Michigan or elsewhere, a move to Mound Road is not financially feasible and we support the decision of the Commission in this regard.”
Although officials can still weigh options, Woronchak remains confident the stalled new jail project will be finished.
“We have $160 million that’s standing in the dirt right now at the Gratiot site,” he said. “I have a pretty firm belief we’re going to end up completing that site at some point.”
Members of the executive office of Ficano spent most of the morning defending their plans for a 2,400-bed jail after recent criticism that the number of beds is insufficient.
Warren Evans, the former Wayne County Sheriff who is running for the county executive seat, said in an editorial to The Detroit News on Tuesday the jail needs to have a 3,000-prisoner capacity. County executive officials brought in consultants and experts over the past several months who said a 2,400-bed jail was adequate.
“The administration is very comfortable with the 2,400 number,” said Solon Phillips, deputy county executive.
The core problem, Phillips said, is the lack of collaboration between county officials including the offices of the prosecutor, sheriff and executive. He said the county’s criminal justice system is “on the verge of collapse.” Efficiencies on how people are charged and processed through the system need to be improved.
“If one thinks that simply building a bigger mousetrap is going to solve our problem — that’s delusional and short-sighted,” Phillips said.
The number of prisoners in the system ranged from about 2,000 to 2,200 in recent months. Another 400-600 are out on the jail’s tether program.
The jail construction fiasco has led to an FBI probe and has resulted in criminal charges. Former chief financial officer Carla Sledge and Steve Collins, an assistant corporation counsel, face charges on allegations of intentionally misleading county commissioners and building authority members about the true costs of the project. A hearing is set for Oct. 31.
A third official, former jail consultant, Anthony Parlovecchio, faces a misdemeanor count of willful neglect of duty by a public official.
