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Below are highlights of the $56.5 million Rock County Jail expansion plan, which jail officials hope won't be needed for many years:
Phase 1: $8.46 million
-- Site grading
-- Waterproofing foundation
-- Roof replacement
-- Kitchen equipment replacement
-- Electronic updates
-- Build new sally port, booking room
Phase 2: $17.73 million
-- Build a 192-bed inmate housing building
-- Heating system
-- Fire alarm system
Phase 3: $17.17 million
-- Build a law enforcement building
-- Demolish the Pinehurst Building
-- Build an evidence garage
-- Build a maintenance facility
-- Expand the kitchen
Phase 4: $12.55 million
-- Build a three-story housing tower
Phase 5: $615,000
-- Renovate existing jail pods
JANESVILLE — The Rock County Sheriff's Office has a long-term plan to expand the county jail if it's ever needed.
The plan has five phases and could cost $56.5 million, but the sheriff's office hopes it won't need a bigger jail for many years.
"There's no way that I can ask the county citizens to spend any more of their tax dollars in the economic crisis we're in," Sheriff Bob Spoden said. "It's just not realistic."
The plan was presented to the Rock County Board on Thursday night.
The sheriff's office in 2006 pitched a $56 million jail expansion but later scrapped the plan in favor of reducing the inmate population by expanding jail alternative programs, including electronic monitoring, Workenders and Community RECAP.
And the plan seems to have worked.
In 2005, the jail housed an average of 516 inmates in Rock County, 25 inmates in other counties and 11 inmates in alternative programs.
Three years later, the jail averaged 493 inmates in Rock County, zero in other counties and 154 in alternative programs.
The jail is less crowded and below its rated capacity of 525 inmates.
"The philosophies have changed," Spoden said. "We're not going to be able to build our way out of overcrowding."
County board members decided to pay The Samuels Group of Wausau $35,000 to design the five-phase plan. It is the most recent in 10 years of studies and plans at the cost of $1.7 million.
The plan was made in case the county decides to expand the jail in the future. It outlines priorities for jail improvements.
The expansion includes renovations, new jail beds and a new building to house the law enforcement division of the sheriff's office.
"I think there's been an awful lot of thought and an awful lot of innovation in developing this plan," Cmdr. Tom Gehl said. "Just because it's there, doesn't mean it has to be done."
Instead, the sheriff's office intends to continue growing its alternative programs and to add others, he said.
Future programs could address underlying issues that land inmates in jail, Gehl said.
They could focus on drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence or mental health, he said.
"We can hopefully reduce recidivism," Gehl said.
Meanwhile, the plan to expand the jail will sit on the shelf, just in case it's needed someday, Spoden said.
"At the end of the day, building prisons and jails is one of the most costly additions," he said. "What our goal has been and continues to be is to use alternatives instead of wasting jail beds."