Lancaster County commissioners finalized the county’s purchase of 37 acres of land at Southwest 40th and West O streets for a new jail Tuesday, but the decision didn’t come without objection.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner appeared before the board to reiterate his concerns about building so far from the courthouse,  including what it will mean for his department’s transportation budget, and whether the board was making an informed decision.

“I think you should take a step back and make sure that all of the information is available to you for the total cost of this whole project,” he said.

County commissioners defended themselves, saying costs, including transportation costs shouldered by Wagner’s department, were seriously discussed and that their choice to build a new jail at Southwest 40th and West O is best for taxpayers in the long run.

The county is buying the land from West O Properties.

The site is more than four miles from the current jail and comes at a cost of $2,250,750, which commissioners factored into this year’s budget.

The closing comes nearly two weeks later than originally scheduled. The planned Nov. 1 closing was pushed back when commissioners decided to conduct more testing at the site to study groundwater quality.

While commissioners did their due diligence in that instance, Wagner said he believes they did not when it came to understanding total costs.

“I just want to make sure you’re going into this with your eyes open,” he said.

Wagner, who agrees the county needs more jail space, has taken issue with the fact that neither he nor Police Chief Tom Casady was consulted for a pre-architectural report that evaluated the costs of building at a remote site versus expanding the existing jail at 10th and J streets.

The arresting agency is responsible for taking the people they arrest to the jail. The Corrections Department handles transportation of those already in its custody.

“I think the 2,500 prisoners today that we transport a year weren’t included in the study,” he said. “Those aren’t even talked about.”

The cost analysis is based on the county using video arraignments, which Wagner said he believes will occur at some point in the future. But for now, it’s a huge issue, he said.

The pre-architectural report did include input from commissioners, corrections staff and a committee of county officials, businesspeople and others with backgrounds in criminal justice. The report cited crime statistics, which Wagner said doesn’t include all crimes, including drunken driving arrests.

The discussions about cost have been serious, despite not using exact figures for Wagner’s costs, Commissioner Bernie Heier said.

“As far as I’m concerned, transportation, I think that’s just one of those things we have to do,” he said. “I think it’s far cheaper to transport them than it is to go out to another block down to the south here, or two blocks and buy all those houses up and buy more land.”

That may be, said Wagner, but the board does not have the information to say so definitively.

The West O land is the closest to the existing Hall of Justice of some 22 sites the board examined, County Commissioner Deb Schorr said.

Commissioners Ray Stevens and Larry Hudkins pointed to the advantages of building efficiencies into the new jail — something that would be difficult to retrofit into an existing jail.

Certainly, building to the south of the current jail would be the easier decision — right now, board Chairman Bob Workman said. But for the long run, it just doesn’t make sense.

Commissioners also said they favor using video arraignment and even video visitation to cut costs down the road.

County officials have cited overcrowding as the need for the new jail. Because of that, the county has been out of compliance with state standards since 2002.

A committee that includes county officials and community members — Wagner among them — will hold its first meeting Thursday to examine proposals submitted by architectural and engineering firms. Within those proposals are cost estimates to build the jail — figures county officials hope from which to begin negotiations.

The proposals are not yet available for public inspection. State law requires the county to open up the records only after the award of a contract.

Consultants estimated the project could cost $94 million.

Commissioners can only look to the future, and hope to say 25 years from now they made the right decision, Workman said.

“Hopefully, it is,” he said.

Reach Jean Ortiz at 473-7107 or jortiz@journalstar.com.