Grayson County Commissioners take action to fund jail expansion

SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) -Calling the Grayson County Jail overcrowded is an understatement according to County Judge Bruce Dawsey.

“Our capacity is 365, this morning we were at 380, this time last week we were at 412,” said Dawsey.

The price tag for this expansion is up to $34-million.

The county plans to apply for a Certificate of Obligation bond or a CO bond for $25-million, allowing them to issue debt without holding a public vote.

“The $25-million is the cap on the CO we’re asking for. Now we have roughly $13-million in what’s referred to as ARPA money that came from the federal government and then we had a little bit of money in our cash reserves that we could use,” Dawsey said.

The county will have ten years to pay off the debt.

Dawsey said this will not raise the tax rate, “our growth is going to pay for the growth, so the new houses that are coming in, new industry that is coming in, that will go towards paying down the debt that we have.”

The expansion plan is a five story building with an additional 155 beds and room for 155 more if needed in the future.

“By having more space and better functionality for our facility we’re able to keep our  inmates safe, keep officers safe,” said Capt. Sarah Bigham with the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.

While the jail will remain in Downtown Sherman for now, Dawsey said that could change eventually, if voters approve.

“Hopefully within the next 10 to 15 years we’ll look at reestablishing a whole new location for our criminal justice system and at that point in time it’ll be a much larger bond and that would go to the voters,” Dawsey said.

Judge Dawsey said ground breaking on the jail expansion could happen as early as this July.

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