Oppose County’s Current Jail Plan

The County of Anoka has proposed tripling the size of the current jail in downtown Anoka.  The County’s plan would increase the number of jail beds from 180 to 540 beds and extend the jail’s “footprint” in downtown Anoka by about 2 blocks!  This oversized expansion of the jail would forever change our historic downtown and the neighborhood around it.  The County’s plan also calls for the closing of Van Buren Street through the downtown.  

I believe that we should work toward an acceptable alternative to this oversized jail plain.  This might include an enlarged jail, but smaller than the 540 beds currently being proposed by the County (that could be built on the current “footprint”); or it might be an alternative location outside of the City of Anoka.  (Earlier this year the legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill that does not require a County Jail to be attached to the County Courthouse or in the County seat.) 

I strongly oppose the County’s current jail plan.  It not only would change our historic downtown, but it also would endanger future plans to re-develop parts of the downtown–because developers and builders would be very unlikely to build new housing next to such an oversized jail facility.