Construction on the Prescott Criminal Justice Center located on Prescott Lakes Parkway is almost at the halfway point. The $63.1 million facility is expected to open in late October or November.
Construction of the new Prescott Criminal Justice Center on Prescott Lakes Parkway is almost 50% complete, prompting the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors to approve a $1,368,731 expenditure to cover hiring of additional personnel to staff the facility.
County Public Information Officer David McAtee said the justice center is on target and on budget and “should be completed on schedule, barring any major supply chain issues or unexpected complications.”
The county anticipates the center will be operative near the end of fall 2022.
Called the costliest county project ever approved, the $63.1-million justice center is a complex of interconnecting buildings that includes two courtrooms, a 152-bed jail, and a Connections Center. It will be a site for providing resources for inmates being released to re-enter the community.
McAtee said the county was proud of this plan: “It’s a new concept and is being viewed within Arizona as the ‘Yavapai County System’ for handling county judicial matters.”
Plans are for the center to be the jail for inmates with short-term stays — 14 days or so. Longer-term inmates will be at the Camp Verde jail, which has 664 beds. Inmates with terms of more than a year likely will be sent to a state prison.
Recently named Board of Supervisor Chairwoman Mary Mallory said she is pleased the project is moving forward.
Employees Needed to Staff Justice Center
The addition of center has increased prisoner capacity 24%, resulting in an increase in the operational budget from $21 million to $26.7 million to cover costs of 34 new jail employees from January to June 2022. New positions are in addition to 15 detention officers the supervisors approved in July.
New jobs include jail commander, detention lieutenant, business manager, seven detention sergeants, six detention officers II, 15 detention support specialists, a project coordinator and two background investigators.
More new positions will be added later in 2022.
Job fairs, the internet and billboards are being used to recruit staff.
Go to www.yavapaijustice.com to learn more about the history of the center and construction progress. The website updates weekly and allows for questions.
