CHARLES CITY – A Special County Election is coming to a close today in Floyd county to decide the fate of a new law enforcement center.
Absentee voting has been open since April 2, and polls close Tuesday night, May 1 at 9 PM. Eligible voters will vote on the following proposition: “Shall the County of Floyd, State of Iowa, enter into a loan agreement and issue its general obligation bonds in an amount not exceeding the amount of $13,500,000, for the purposes of acquiring real estate and constructing, furnishing and equipping a County Law Enforcement Center and of undertaking renovations to the County Courthouse?”
The Floyd county sheriff’s office reports that Delbert Longley, Chief Jail Inspector for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said “The Floyd County Jail does not meet the current needs for the staff, public, or inmates” back in 2013. The county has been seeking better accommodations for years. Back in 2014, things got so bad there that Floyd County Sheriff Rick Lynch (since retired) declared that due to liability and cost concerns, inmates would be sent to the Mitchell county jail. The move could have cost some jailers and employees their jobs, but adjustments were made at the jail to get by until a solution could be found.
If passed, the county would build a new jail west of the courthouse with up to 32 beds inside and make some modernizations to the courthouse.