IOWA CITY

A bond referendum for nearly $100 million, including funds for a new jail, is expected to be on the ballot for Johnson County voters in November 2026.

Following a lengthy discussion at an added work session Oct. 16, four Johnson County Board of Supervisors agreed to move ahead with a plan for a $99 million bond referendum that would cover the cost of new sheriff offices and a county jail along with plans for affordable housing initiatives.

While Supervisor Mandi Remington has said she will only support a new jail facility of 92 beds, four other supervisors eventually arrived at 120 beds with a potential build out to 140 beds, a number that an assessment study called for and a number that is strongly supported by Sheriff Brad Kunkel.

“We don’t have enough options to house people in the facility,” Kunkel said. “We need more places to put people to keep people separate and manage the classification.”

The current jail is smaller and has an aging structure that is falling apart, creating water leaks through the building. The jail is in the midst of a plan to have its roof replaced along with other repairs.

A new jail and sheriff facility is expected to cost between $80 and $85 million. The county still needs to locate a property where a new jail would be constructed. The rest of the funds would be used to help with affordable housing.

“We can’t solve it,” Supervisor Rod Sullivan said of the housing crisis. “We can make a little dent.”

Sixty percent approval is needed to pass the referendum next year in what will be the federal mid-term elections. That will also be an election in which the supervisor seats will be on the ballot.

Remington, who was not at the work session, issued a statement to the board in which she called for equal money to be spent on a new jail and also on a number of mobile crisis and behavioral health, diversion and first responder programs, providing an example of $60 million for a jail and $60 million for the other programs with a total bond of $120 million.

“A smaller jail will garner significantly more voter support, especially if it is presented as a piece of a ballot package,” she said in a statement. “Our goal should be to provide the county the facility it needs and increases investments in programs that reduce jail utilization and strengthen first responder infrastructure.”

Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said a wide-reaching bond referendum may not be successful and Sullivan disagreed completely with the proposal.

“On a ballot measure, you need to be very clear, zero in on what it is you’re asking for and keep it to that instead of asking for all this other stuff,” Green-Douglass said.

“I think her scale is way, way, way off,” Sullivan said. “First of all, $60 million is not going to do an adequate jail and $60 million is way too much for those other things.

“I can’t disagree more. I think she’s flat out wrong.”

Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz agreed with many of the proposals Remington listed, but had settled on 100 beds for a new jail. Ultimately, after Kunkel said he could not support 100 beds, Fixmer-Oraiz agreed to go along with “the will of the Board” on 120 beds.

“Given the world that we’re in right now, especially in Iowa, this is obviously a tough decision and vote to have to make,” Fixmer-Oraiz said. “But I do want to be very careful in how we’re crafting it.”

Later on the same day, a formal session produced comment from two Iowa City residents, one of them laced with profanity, criticizing the board’s decision on the jail size.

Courthouse Renovation

A renovation of the first level of the Johnson County Courthouse’s south side is expected to cost about $1.7 million. Estimates include $76,500 in expected cost due to tariffs.

Work is expected to start in January, following a November bid deadline and potential Board of Supervisors approval in December.

A public hearing has been set for October 30 during the board’s formal session at 9 a.m.

Board Action

The Board approved a non-bargaining pay plan for county employees.

The Board approved a job description for Workday Manager in the information technology department.

Next meeting:

The Board’s next formal session is at 9 a.m. October 23.