The Dane County Board has delayed a vote on the Dane County Jail Consolidation Project once again, now waiting until mid-March when an accurate cost estimate is expected.
This means Madison residents will no longer vote on the jail consolidation’s final budget in April, according to The Cap Times.
The long-postponed Dane County Jail Consolidation Project aims to provide one single jail facility, revamp old cell blocks in the City-County Building Jail, reduce the number of beds and possibly eliminate solitary confinement, among other goals.
The Dane County Board’s Black Caucus released revisions calling for a smaller facility to lower the overall budget, arguing that Dane County should instead focus on reducing Dane County racial disparities as a solution to prison overflow.
Black people are incarcerated in Dane County at a rate that doubles the national average, according to NBC 15.
In an email statement to The Badger Herald, District 15 Supervisor and Black Caucus member April Kigeya said the recently rejected jail project plan had been authored by the Black Caucus and did not request any additional funding than the previously approved plan. The County Board passed it, but it was vetoed by County Executive Joe Parisi.
“The County Executive decided to not only veto our plan, but he failed to add any funding for the jail in his Executive budget,” Kigeya said. “We are waiting for the 95% cost estimate to be given to us by mid-March, so we will have an idea of what the actual cost will be.”
Conditions in detainment facilities inside the Madison City-Council Building caused closures of the east section of the 7th floor due to concerns from city residents and government officials alike, including Sheriff Kalvin Barrett.
“A lack of safe and humane jail space, along with ongoing staffing shortages, has brought us to the difficult decision to place some of our jail residents in other counties. I will continue to advocate for a facility to be built in Dane County which reflects our community values,” Barrett said in a statement Aug. 2022.
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The Dane County Board had previously approved a project budget of $166 million and rejected a referendum raising the cost to nearly $180 million last August, according to The Cap Times.
The Board expects an accurate cost estimate within the next several weeks and plans to continue their work on the project in March, according to The Cap Times.
