VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Members of the Barnes County Jail committee are pursuing every available resource to build a new jail. The estimated cost $9 to $13 million dollars.

In March, the Valley City Barnes County Development Corporation approved of a proposal to allow the county to purchase land for the new facility along the I-94 corridor.

On Thursday, April 4th, the chairman of the committee Bill Carlblom said he and other members like a proposal to build a joint law enforcement center that would house the Sheriff’s office, Police department, 9-1-1 dispatch center and a 40 bed jail east of the National Guard Maintenance Facility along the I-94 corridor in Valley City.

Carlblom was asked how will the new facility be funded? He said we are working on funding sources but nothing has been finalized.

In 2018, The State Department of Corrections told Barnes County officials to either build or renovate the existing facility or it will be shut down due to safety issue with inmates and staff members.

Barnes County Jail Committee members believe the 110 year old facility is to old to renovate and would be a waste of taxpayers money.

Barnes County Sheriff Randy McClaflin told the audience that transportation costs of moving inmates for the county will double if a new jail is not built.

Anyone interested in being a part of a jail tour of other facilities in the state should contact Jeremy Wolff the Barnes County Jail Administrator at 845-8532. The tour will leave Wednesday, April 17th, the objective of the tour is to see what the best course of action could be for Barnes County as the pursue proposals to build a new jail.