Beltrami County Approves Land Purchase for New Jail Site

The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners voted to approve the land purchase for the future site of the new Beltrami County Jail on May 31 at a special board meeting.

The county evaluated 15 possible properties and rated them baed on twelve different site selection criteria. The criteria included:

• Lot Size
• Property Valuation
• Estimated Acquisition Cost
• Estimated Site Prep Cost
• Impact to Property Tax Revenue
• Courthouse & Emergency Medical Service Access
• Intake Access
• Impact to Habitable Housing
• Neighborhood Impacts
• Construction Impacts
• Financial Productivity Potential
• Land Use/Zoning/Annexation

The top-rated selection, the BRIC property, was not for sale. But the county moved forward with their second-rated selection, the Wiebolt Property. This property is located along Jefferson Avenue SW in Bemidji.

Beltrami County Administrator Thomas Barry explained the property to the county board. Despite not being at the meeting due to other obligations, Chair Richard Anderson supported this choice.

“[Commissioner Anderson] wanted to make sure that I expressed his full support for this project and at this location,” said District 5 Commissioner and Interim Chair John Carlson. “He said, ‘If I was here, I would definitely be voting yes.'”

The board voted unanimously to approve the land purchase.

The county started to look at solutions to the current jail after the Minnesota Department of Corrections discovered multiple violations in May of 2019. At a November 2022 board meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted to build a new facility.

Earlier this year in January, the jail had to downsize its inmate capacity due to what the MN DOC deemed “inadequate staffing.” Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs told Lakeland News that the new jail would not be built in the style of the current one as it is outdated.

The board also voted to hire Minneapolis-based architect firm Klein McCarthy during a May meeting for the first phase of the project. This phase would involve preliminary design services.

The Wiebolt Property purchase come with a number of contingencies, but if all are met, the anticipated closing date for the sale is August 11.