JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City leaders are one step closer to building a new Duval County Jail.
In early January, they are going to start contract negotiations with a consulting firm that will help guide planning for a new facility.
During a meeting on Monday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Director of Corrections, Kavin Goff, laid out the lengthy planning process.
The city recently received seven proposals from consulting firms. They were scored and narrowed down to a top three. CGL was ultimately the firm selected.
After the city goes through negotiations with the firm, it is expected to take anywhere from 10 months to one year for them to present recommendations on what the new jail should include and how it should be designed.
“They’ll start getting numbers from us about historical data on population for the jail and how we see what we want to incorporate in the new jail,” Goff said during a meeting on Monday.
A city spokesperson told Action News Jax the firm selected will also make recommendations to the city on potential locations for the new jail.
“We don’t want what happened in Brentwood, where we woke up one day, and the coroner was there,” Jacksonville resident Larry Henderson said. “We don’t want that with the new jail.”
In a meeting earlier this month, many people who live in some of the city’s historic black neighborhoods spoke out against the new jail being built in their communities.
It’s something council members Jimmy Peluso and Ju’Coby Pittman said they’re working to ensure doesn’t happen.
“The community deserves to have input to empower them to be part of a big process,” Pittman said.
After the consulting phase, the city will move forward with selecting an architect to design the new jail.
Everything is still in the early planning stages, so it’s unclear when there will be a construction timeline.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
