Cass County Sheriff: Jail expansions will begin this spring

(Cass County, ND) -- The Cass County Jail expansion is expected to start this spring, if plans continue to move without interruption.

That information was released by the Cass County Sheriff's Office, who says the designs have been in the works over the past several years. The process has been long, with officials saying they have been collaborating with Cass County Governance and several other officials to build a jail that will last for the next several decades. A specific date for the beginning of construction has not been announced to the public yet, but most of the items are in place to begin once the snow melts. 

"We are really looking forward to this spring to breaking ground and getting this thing on the way to being built... "said Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner, "...It's going to take a couple of years to build the [jail]."

Sheriff Jahner says the design has the future in mind, with the goal being to make large improvements now and stall future changes until they are absolutely necessary. This includes making the 90 cells large enough to potentially house two inmates with some small adjustments, which would delay the need to make additional cells and allow officers to increase the number of inmates the jail can house. This change alone increases capacity by nearly 50% when considering the potential to house 180 additional inmates. 

Sheriff Jahner says the jail would not have seen improvements without the cooperation from several local entities, including Cass County Governance