By RYAN CHRISTNER

rchristner@dailynews.net

At Wednesday night's Ellis County space needs committee meeting, Sheriff Ed Harbin revealed preliminary cost estimates for coveted new jail space.

Harbin was asked in June to provide the materials as committee members seek ways to alleviate the space concerns of various county agencies.

The estimates, which were produced by Public Facilities Investment Corp. of Los Angeles, give two possible costs for the construction of a 100-bed facility.

On the low end, such a structure could cost about $9 million, or could rise to more than $11 million for the "standard cost."

"Jails are not cheap," Harbin said.

At the committee's meeting last month, Harbin said a 100-bed jail -- created through either an expansion onto current facilities or the construction of an entirely new building -- would be a boon in allowing the county to handle its inmate population as well as the overflow from jails in other northwest Kansas counties.

On Wednesday, some committee members questioned the need for such a large space, but Harbin said the project did not necessarily need to be that big as long as future expansion is factored into the construction.

"Obviously, you want to build it so that you can expand," he said.

The county jail, which was built in 1976, has 30 beds and is nearly always full -- but it wasn't always that way.

"When I first started there, we had one inmate and four jailers," Harbin said. "That was in 1980. What really increased our population in jail was when they redid the DUI laws (a few years later). It's mandatory jail time, and all of a sudden we were running 17 to 20 people."

The Ellis County jail does have space it could set up for an additional 15 beds, but those probably would fill up quickly too, Harbin said.

With such cramped quarters, the county regularly pays to house inmates out of county, at a cost of $45 to $67 per day. Harbin said Trego County is receiving local offenders, and Barton, Rooks, Russell or Saline counties eventually might need to be used as well.

Last year, the total cost to the county for transferring inmates to other areas was approximately $88,000. For 2009, that cost has been estimated to stay about the same.

For that reason, building a larger facility is a solution not just for eliminating the need to transport prisoners to other counties, but it also would allow Ellis County to act as a recipient of offenders from other parts of the state.

In the past, the county made $75,000 to $100,000 by taking on additional inmates.

Committee member Bob Schibi suggested a poll be taken of other northwest Kansas counties to see which have needs for additional jail space.

"From that survey, you determine maybe you need 120 (beds)," he said.

Various aspects of the proposed facility were discussed Wednesday. Harbin said the "best option" would be to expand south off of the law enforcement center to the parking lot across the street, thereby closing 12th street. But ultimately it was decided more information was needed about the exact needs of the county and the cost of the project.

"This is not really the plan," Harbin said. "This is just 'tell us the cost.' "

Before adjourning, committee members said they planned to speak with architectural firms about conceptualizing the project.