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OGDEN — Weber County sheriff's officials aren't giving up on efforts to upgrade the county jail.
A proposed bond issue of up to $98 million to upgrade the jail and build a new sheriff's office facility failed at the ballot box in November. But the sheriff's office has come up with a scaled-back $30.8 million proposal, now facing scrutiny by Weber County officials as they prioritize spending on capital projects. The focus of the revamped plan is to add space for medical and mental health treatment of inmates.
"It's still a need," said Sheriff Ryan Arbon. Chief Deputy Phillip Reese said more and more inmates are entering the facility with substance abuse issues, notably from fentanyl abuse, that require attention.
County leaders have been debating expansion of the jail, which has a capacity of nearly 900, for four years. The key focus as discussion commenced was expanding medical and mental health offerings to improve inmate care. But with last year's bond proposal, county officials put forward a plan that called for a larger expansion that would have met sheriff's office and jail space needs for up to 50 years. After the bond question's failure, the proposal reverts to the initial parameters — augmenting facilities for addressing inmates' varied health needs.
In a typical day, 100 to 120 inmates need medical help of some sort while 30 more need attention for mental health issues, according to Reese. The jail now contains four cells to accommodate their needs. The $30.8 million proposal, meantime, calls for construction of a new pod that would contain 52 beds for inmates with mental health issues — 36 for men and 16 for women — and eight dedicated beds for medical care.
Aside from better medical and mental health treatment for inmates, adding the pod would have the secondary impact of freeing up space in the rest of the jail, helping fend off overcrowding.
Varied big-ticket proposals are getting county leaders' attention, including construction of a $12 million to $15 million multilevel parking garage and $10 million in improvements to the Ice Sheet, a potential venue in the 2034 Winter Olympics. The jail upgrades, though, are the highest priority, in Arbon's view. "We need to start this today," he said.
Weber County Commissioner Gage Froerer, meantime, is taking a more deliberative approach. "We're just now looking at priorities, what kind of comes to the top in terms of need," he said. He's hoping priorities come into focus by late this coming summer, when county officials start assembling the proposed 2025 budget.
One thing's for sure, however, Froerer doesn't want to raise property taxes to cover the cost, as would have been required had last year's bond question passed. The county has perhaps $45 million in reserves it can tap, though borrowing might be required, Froerer said, if the county's to tackle the parking garage, jail and Ice Sheet plans.
The varied capital project proposals
After a 2020 earthquake that shook Utah, the county tore down the aging multilevel parking garage that had sat adjacent to the Weber Center in downtown Ogden, where county offices are housed. Per an agreement with the city of Ogden, though, officials are obliged to replace the structure, which figures in the $12 million-$15 million proposal for the new parking facility, which would potentially contain 500-600 stalls.
The county holds out hope the Ice Sheet will be used in some capacity during the 2034 Olympics, tentatively to be held in Utah. That figures in the plans to improve that county-owned facility, which sits on the Weber State University campus, though it's not the only issue at play. The building hosted curling events in the 2002 Winter Games.
