Flooding Fails to Stop $37 Million Texas Jail Project From Taking Shape

BELTON, Texas — Construction work on the new $37 million Bell County Jail reached the halfway point early this year after spring flooding in 2007 forced project delays.

Augmenting existing county detention facilities, which have a capacity of approximately 700 inmates, the 652-bed jail will be connected to the adjacent county justice complex via an underground tunnel.

The proximity of the new jail to the courthouse and the subterranean connection route between the two facilities will improve security and reduce costs associated with the transport of inmates to and from court, officials say.

Prompted by the need to alleviate chronic overcrowding at county facilities, the new jail, which is located on a 77-acre site, is also designed for future expansion, officials say.

Unlike the county’s downtown facility, which cannot expand its footprint outward to increase capacity, architects designed the new facility to expand as demand increases. The additional housing pods would raise the new jail’s capacity to 1,300 inmates.

Although housing units are designed to meet current inmate population levels, medical, kitchen and laundry infrastructure was designed to accommodate the jail’s maximum 1,300-bed capacity.

Due to overcrowding, Bell County currently pays other counties in the region to house inmates.

When completed, the county will have sufficient beds to reverse that trend and begin leasing space to other counties, officials say.

Although construction began in February 2007, heavy spring floods forced significant delays in construction work and have pushed the planned completion date for the project back to December 2008.