LIBERTY COUNTY, Ga. () — The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) is sounding the alarm over the condition of its aging jail, and they are asking county leaders to help with constructing a new jail.

LCSO said they are holding things together with tape and Band-Aids at the county jail. He said the more than 30-year-old facility is no longer meeting the needs of the growing population and that it’s time to expand. 

spoke with Deputy Chief Al Hagan about the conditions.

“If you walk through the facility,  you see where we’re having to patch piping,  where the copper pipe was put inside of concrete, air conditions are constantly breaking down,” he said.

Hagan said it’s an outdated facility that isn’t safe for inmates or staff. The hope is the new jail will have a space for positive inmate programs and allow staff to do their jobs more efficiently.

“What we look at by having places to do programs allow us to send a better citizen back into the street instead of just bringing them here and warehousing people and turning them out the same person or worse, when they go back into the community,” said Hagan.

The current facility has around 276 beds, 305 as the maximum of prisoners. Hagan told it is running near capacity every day. They are also housing federal inmates, while also holding prisoners from neighboring counties. In addition, we’re told the ratio of toilets and showers per inmate is below state standards.

“Also, the county jail has become what I call the de facto mental health facility,  because we have a lot of issues with mental health and a large percentage of our inmates has some form of mental health and so on,” Hagan said. “Of course, our statewide facilities are not able to hold them all and we’re having to try our best and I think we have four medical beds here for true medical issues.”

A state evaluation revealed the county is in need of over 650 beds to keep up with future growth. However, the sheriff’s office is pushing for at least 550, which would be cheaper and easier on taxpayers.

Hagan said construction of a new jail could cost anywhere between $75-$100 million.

“It’s mandated that the Sheriff’s Office provide this service to the community,” he said. “And so, I ask them to be mindful of it,  understand that SPLOST is a way. When the SPLOST comes up, make sure they vote in favor of it because it will help offset the cost of this deal compared to what citizens pay straight from increased taxes.”

He continued, “I tell folks what growth comes crime. and we need to be prepared as we can in every way.”

Hagan said shovels could be in the ground by early next year.