SARPY COUNTY- After their weekly meeting, Sarpy County Board members donned hard hats and neon vests.

They headed to the construction site next door, where crews have erected the skeleton of a new jail in recent months. Construction remains on track to wrap up in December 2022, according to Jake Tietgen, lead project manager.

Tietgen described the new facility as about 25% finished. The jail is expected to be operational in early 2023, according to county spokesperson Megan Stubenhofer-Barrett.

Crews broke ground in the spring. They cleared the site and have completed some underground work — laying pilings, plumbing and electric — and stood up structural beams and an elevator shaft. Next, observers will start seeing walls go up, said Stubenhofer-Barrett.

In April, the County Board approved a guaranteed maximum construction price of $69.4 million with JE Dunn. The facility was designed by DLR Group.

The new 150,000-square-foot jail, on the county’s campus near 84th Street and Nebraska Highway 370, is aimed at easing overcrowding and will have more space for programming and services to help people experiencing mental health challenges.

The current jail, built-in 1989, was designed to hold about 150 people, according to Ryan Mahr, the head of the Sarpy County Department of Corrections. The new lockup is designed to hold close to 360.

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