1/9/14 - Funding for the first part of the planned expansion of the Livingston County Jail was approved by the county Finance Committee Wednesday. The committee approved spending $850,000 on preliminary work for the project, including ground and soil work for the site, preparatory costs, and finding a firm to undertake the project. Committee Chair Dennis Dolan says the price tag of the work is appropriate given the $14 million price tag expected for the jail expansion, which would increase the capacity from 254 inmates to 442. The jail has been plagued by overcrowding for years, and the new expansion will address that with additional living space and better tools for keeping different populations separate in the jailhouse. This is especially important for female inmates, which is a growing population within the jail. If the funding is approved by the County Board of Commissioners, the preliminary work should be finished by the end of April. Dolan says if everything goes well construction could wrap up in the later part of this year, although the project might last until 2015. (TD)
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