Jail construction in Lawrence County, IL may end up in the voters hands

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Lawrence County, Illinois voters may ultimately decide whether or not the county should build a new jail.

County Board President Bill Gray says a jail committee has been established to gather information including cost estimates. He says committee members want more public input and the only way to do that maybe through a voter referendum.

Gray says the current jail was built in 1974 and was meant to house only 20 inmates.

Over the years the inmate population has continued to grow forcing more prisoners to be housed in out of county facilities. Gray says it costs the county around 25-dollars per day to house inmates in neighboring jails.