SCOTT COUNTY BEGINS PROCESS OF SELECTING ARCHITECT FOR NEW COUNTY JAIL

BENTON -- Five Sikeston architects will receive letters this week asking for their qualifications to build a new Scott County jail.

Scott County commissioners said they wanted to insure that county professionals and business people are invited to participate in all areas of the jail project, including planning, design, finance and construction.

The commission is asking county voters in the April 4 election to approve a 0.25 percent sales tax to build a new 80- to 100-bed jail in Benton. The additional tax would amount to 25 cents on a $100 purchase.

If voters approve the measure, the sales tax would start Oct. 1 and the county would receive its first revenues a month later.

With a projected sales tax growth of $704,000 to $942,000 annually, total revenues are expected to be $6.548 million in eight years. One estimate has shown that would fund a bond issue of $4.975 million at an average interest rate of 6.14 percent.

Presiding commissioner Bob Kielhofner said state law allows the commission to select an architect for the job based upon qualifications. If there is no agreement later between the commission and the selected architect on the fee, then the county can choose another architect and start the negotiation process over again.

"There may be a lot bigger projects out there, but this is a good sized project for us," Kielhofner said.

The letter to the architects says the new jail will be the most costly and complex project that the county has ever undertaken. The letter says the commission wants the new facility to provide a secure and safe environment for the housing of prisoners and the safety of staff members.

The letter to the county architects requests that they respond with their qualifications and experiences that relate to planning, designing and supervising the construction and equipping of a new jail.

Kielhofner said it would be ideal to hire a local architect who would use outside consultants for some of the technical matters on jail construction.

The new jail will be on county property southwest of the courthouse on the site of the present sheriff's office. The new jail site will include land directly south and west of the sheriff's office where three smaller structures will be razed.

The letter says the county would like to continue operating the present jail during construction and then raze it, using the land for an inmate exercise area.

Meeting with the commissioners Tuesday was Robert Stearnes, one of the Sikeston architects who will be receive a letter. He said the county would have more input into the jail project with a local architect. He said local architects live in the area so they would want to assure that the job is done to the satisfaction of the commission.

Sheriff Bill Ferrell said he considers himself a jail expert and wants to provide input into the jail design. Planning for the jail staff is one of the keys to building the right kind of structure.

The letter asks for responses from the architects by 10:30 a.m. March 7 during the commission's regular meeting.