The process for a new Andrew County jail kicked off recently. An advisory board of seven county residents, picked by the Andrew County commissioners, and seven guests attended a public meeting to listen to Sheriff Brian Atkins talk about the need for a jail and some of the architectural ideas.

The committee’s job is to make sure the county can build it, operate it and pay for it without any tax increases, Mr. Atkins said. The only way is to build it with existing taxes and board other county prisoners, he said.

The current jail was built in 1905 for 17 males and six females, the sheriff said.

Eleven years ago, the county averaged 15 to 18 prisoners, said Andrew County Associate Circuit Judge Michael Ordnung. Working with the sheriff, the effort has been to be as creative as possible to keep numbers down, Mr. Ordnung said. But the ones being sent to jail need to be there, he said.

Today, the county averages 28 to 32 prisoners, Mr. Atkins said. The county spent $154,000 to pay for boarding excess prisoners in 2008, he said.

“I don’t see the numbers going down,” Mr. Ordnung said.

The jail doesn’t meet any federal standards and when a number of individuals are involved in a crime it presents additional problems. The jail has an open room with no way to segregate prisoners.

The jail received four first-degree murder suspects in May, three of those prisoners had to be transferred to other jails and that cost money, Mr. Atkins said. The triggerman is considered a high-risk prisoner and the county pays $55 a day to keep him in the Platte County Jail, the sheriff said.

The sheriff would like for the committee to see the new Vernon County Jail in Nevada, Mo., however, a number of committee members want to slow down. They want to view the current jail first.

The commissioners said all the advisory committee meetings would be open to the public. The next meeting will include a discussion of expenses and funding with architects and planners.

Marshall White can be reached at marshall@npgco.com.