Phase I Of El Paso County Jail Annex Approved

County Commissioners elected to chip in $2,595,000 into a jail expansion for the El Paso County jail annex.

The funds, which come from a 2007 bond initiative, have sat for five years. According to the assistant county attorney, the money wasn’t spent because the project hit several snags including multiple sheriff’s taking office, and an issue with a design contract.

“We would have liked for it to have occurred faster, we’d like to think this isn’t typical,” said Holly Lytle.

The project voted on Monday is Phase I of a two part expansion. It calls for expansion of several support facilities including the laundry room, a cafeteria and the jail’s clinic facilities. The expansion would also add a classroom to the jail.

Phase II of construction includes an estimated $44 million expansion of the jail, which will add several hundred beds increasing the capacity.

During the County Commissioners Court Sergio Lewis brought up that a previous contract included in documents tied to the expansion cited a cost of $17 million, questioning why the cost has ballooned so high.

According to county staffers, the $17 million cost was an estimate created in 2006 when discussions first began about Phase I. In the five years it has taken to move forward with Phase I, the costs of building have shot up. In that time, the land the annex sits on has also become part of the city of El Paso which means new building code standards must be met.

Right now the focus remains on Phase I of construction, but until the project is wrapped up and the 2012 bond initiative is inked, a final cost for Phase II will not be available. County employees said once the bond is approved sub-contractors can begin calculations which will give them a final cost of the project.

If the cost of construction is lower than $44 million, the money is expected to be funneled to an additional project listed in the 2012 bond initiative, which has not yet been funded.