VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – A discussion about the future of the Barnes County Jail was addressed last night during a joint meeting with city, county and school officials.

The meeting focused on the school resource officer, emergency response, mental health issues and the Barnes County jail.

Barnes County commissioner Bill Carlblom said it’s important to have a jail otherwise the transportation cost of transporting prisoners will be high.

Carlblom heads a committee of 12 people made up of government entities and citizens that are discussing options to build a new jail. He said more public input is welcome in the weeks and months ahead. Right now, the committee is looking at three locations to replace the 110 year old Barnes County jail.

Barnes County Emergency Manager Sue Lloyd said an active shooter training exercise will be held this fall in the Valley City Public School District. She talked about the importance of hold the exercise in light of recent school shootings.

And Valley City School Superintendent Josh Johnson recognized the vital role that School Resource Officer Sean Hagen plays since he joined the school district. Johnson told the audience that students feel safer now since Officer Hagen has been in the building.

And City Commissioner Mike Bishop talked about the importance of all of us recognizing the need to address mental health issue as a community wide effort.

City County Health Director Theresa Will talked about an upcoming town hall community discussion that will focus on the opioid epidemic April 5th in Valley City.

The Valley City-Barnes County Committee on addiction invites the public to the town hall community discussion on Thursday, April 5th from 6pm to 7:30pm in the Hi-Liner Activity Center. Will said a 30-minute documentary addressing the impacts of the opioid crisis on North Dakota families and communities will be part of the free program. A community discussion will follow the airing of the documentary.