Beltrami County to Make Decision on Future of County Jail

The Beltrami County Board of Commissioners will soon make a decision on the future of the county’s jail on Tuesday.

The process of deciding what to do with the jail comes after the Minnesota Department of Corrections found deteriorating conditions in the facility. In order to avoid a sunset date for the jail, a feasibility study was conducted, which suggested seven different options.

According to a public survey conducted on what to do with the jail, the top three options were to build a new jail, expand the current facility, or build a regional jail. These received the best feedback from the public, with survey participants saying they “definitely would” or “probably would” support those options.

Funding options for the project would also be important, as many of the feasible options would come with a multi-million dollar price tag. The first option was to implement a local option sales tax. In the survey, this choice had 264 people say they would be “likely” or “very likely” to support it.

The other option, an increase in property taxes, was not as well received. 205 people responded that they were “unlikely” or “very unlikely” to support this option.

The county board will take the feedback and feasibility study into consideration at the meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 5 p.m.