Johnson County Justice Center Proponents Present Revised Plans: Daily Iowan Reader, January 30

Johnson County justice center proponents present revised plans

Proponents of the Johnson County Justice Center aren't giving up quite yet.

Johnson County officials held a public hearing Tuesday night to discuss the newly revised proposal of the Johnson County Justice Center after an earlier version failed to pass in November, and local residents filled nearly every seat in courtroom 2A at the Johnson County Courthouse.

The referendum in November needed a super majority vote with 60 percent of the public voting in favor of the center — but only 56 percent approved it. But the Johnson County Board of Supervisors are not taking no for an answer.

After board members made revisions, the bond referendum cost came down $3.3 million from a previous cost of $46.8 million.

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek told *The Daily Iowan* he thinks some Iowa City residents still do not fully understand the needs of the jail.

“If you want to unclog the jail and reduce the occupation you got to consider legalizing murder, rape, [and] robbery,” he said. “If you want to legalize those, that’s who’s in jail, but that’s not reasonable.”

Read more here.

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