Vote no new jail on Nov. 3

Johnson County deserves a humanitarian approach.

Jail Expansion Threatens Vulnerable Populations with ICE Detention and Deportation

Local law enforcement and jails are often the starting places of deportation for immigrants, and Iowa, like other states, has seen sharp increases in ICE detainments. Johnson County is no exception, with ICE detainers leading to deportation. While current local leaders might oppose ICE contracts, upstream forces in Des Moines leave these local officials, or those who come after them, with little recourse because Iowa has already made it illegal to refuse collaboration with ICE, and building big leaves extra capacity for ICE.

A New Building Won’t Prevent More Deaths or Provide Dignity

There have been multiple deaths in the Johnson County Jail under the Sheriff Brad Kunkel, including the death of Nathan Davis Jr. In 2024, Davis died of alcohol withdrawal, a common condition that is easily treated with the common anxiety medication Valium, while the jailers charged with his care ignored his need for medical care until Davis was eventually examined for four minutes through the food tray port in his cell, according to the law suit. A new jail doesn’t offer dignity and safety on its own, and we can offer incarcerated people more dignity now without nearly $100,000,000 in debt.

We Have Better Solutions

Johnson County’s own jail planners identify four key factors for predicting our future jail population: availability of pre-booking alternatives; prevailing philosophy regarding treatment versus punishment, availability of jail alternatives, and level of offense/severity. Three of these are fully within our control for continued investment. While Johnson County has a collection of pilot-scale diversion and prevention programs, which have made a difference in our jail population, the county doesn’t measure their impact or effectiveness. We should build on our limited success and work to be a nationwide leader with further investment and development before we make a huge investment in criminal punishment.

We Have Higher Priorities

When we prioritize the needs of our community, incarceration is low on the list that includes housing, childcare, mental healthcare, healthy food, water quality, access to healthcare, and other, more cost effective ways to provide safety and security to our community. Johnson County’s own strategic plan doesn’t even mention the jail or sheriff’s office and the county has failed to save money towards this project. Meanwhile, the $30.2 million in interest alone on this proposed debt could fund meaningful progress on our priorities such as enough permanent supportive housing units to functionally end homelessness in Johnson County.

The New Proposal Doesn’t Meaningfully Provide Dignity for Incarcerated People

The proposal falls short of meaningfully improving conditions in the jail because it still doesn’t offer incarcerated people contact visitations with family, outdoor exercise and access, or even windows to the outside in their cells. It does include, however, extensive amenities for the sheriff’s department, such as virtual reality training, duplications of maintenance spaces the Johnson County already has, and storage for the military-surplus MRAP vehicle.

Jails are Racist Institutions 

Despite years of awareness and work to reduce the disproportionality in Johnson County, Black men are still five times more likely to be booked into our jail than white men. A $124.7 million investment into an institution with racist outcomes does not align with the values of Johnson County.

Cells for People are Smaller than Private Offices for Staff

Cells in the proposal are designed to the 20-year-old legal minimums required, and remain smaller than would be allowed for a bedroom in a house under local housing code, the space given to egg-laying chickens for pasture, or smaller than a standard car parking space. The cells are smaller than the private offices for the Sheriff and other staff, closets, and the proposed K9 kennels offer more square feet per animal than individual jail cells do for people.

Projections for Capacity Don’t Match Reality

When the private architecture firm projected capacity, they ignored Johnson County’s declining incarceration rate and assumed we would need three new cells every year, in a linear progression, each at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Meanwhile, our diversion programs work to keep people out of jail who aren’t threats to the public. Yet, the county has offered no evidence that we have maximized local decarceration — and doesn’t even bother keep metrics on many of its programs. We need to build up these programs, not build a larger jail.

Johnson County deserves fiscal responsibility.

The Cost Is Too High

The total cost will be more than $124 million to build, furnish, and finance. The estimated cost is substantially higher than other, bigger recently opened jails in Iowa, Nebraska, and Indiana, and the budget has already increased by nearly 20% during design, and design isn’t even done yet. The interest alone will be more than $30 million, and projects like this regularly go over budget. Even using the same “construction manager at risk” and so-called “guaranteed maximum price” process the county plans to use, the UIHC North Liberty campus ran 33% over budget.

Families Can’t Afford It

The proposed jail would raise property taxes and rents throughout Johnson County, negating the bipartisan reforms to reduce them, and property tax relief efforts that voters recently approved in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, and other cities through sales tax increases. Meanwhile, families are continuing to struggle to make ends meet with rising prices for basics like food, gas, and housing, while closing funding gaps for local schools and Kirkwood Community College are also expected to need tax increases.

The Ballot Measure Doesn’t Limit the Jail’s Size or Acknowledge the $30 Million in Interest

The ballot measure doesn’t limit the built capacity of the jail in any way. Instead it asks for a $94.5 million blank check to pay for what Supervisor Jon Green once called the “Taj Majail”. Further, it hides the more than $30.2 million in interest the public will be on the hook for. Do you trust Johnson County with nearly $100,000,000, when it can’t be used for housing, childcare, mental health care, or programs to prevent people from being jailed in the first place? 

Johnson County deserves to be heard.

No Alternatives Were Truly Considered to a New Building on a New Site

Johnson County never considered alternatives to this proposed expensive, brand new building. The county has ignored a 2024 assessment of the current building putting the price of reconstructing the current building at $15 million and putting to rest structural concerns. Nor has the county explored more cost efficient options for offices, similar to the $3.2 million Iowa City recently paid for a building to house its police department. Before we authorize a nearly $100 million blank check of taxpayer money, and the environmental cost that comes with it, we should explore cheaper alternatives.

The Process Has Been Opaque and Decision Makers Avoided Meaningful Public Engagement

Despite more than two years of design work, the public has had little insight into how the sheriff arrived at the current design proposal. There were no clear budget constraints while the proposed budget has nearly risen 20% during design, which isn’t even final. A county committee discussed the jail but produced zero written recommendations for consideration. There is no evidence of how input from mental health providers, defense attorneys, formerly incarcerated people and their families or the general public was incorporated. Only 17 people participated in focus groups and there have been zero public engagement sessions prior to the finalized ballot measure. We know what true public engagement looks like; Iowa City, for example, engaged about 2,000 people in addition to City Council and Parks & Recreation Commission meetings while designing the new City Park pool.

The Proposed Location Is Unsuitable 

When searching for a new site for the jail, the Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected the Historic Poor Farm, and they did so with good reasons, including building cost, lack of access to public transportation and the historical significance of the forced labor and warehousing of the mentally ill that occurred at the farm. The proposed site is right next door, but they haven’t offered a reason for why it’s suddenly the right place now.