Rain falls around the Warren County Regional Jail on Thursday morning, Aug. 3, 2023. (GRACE MCDOWELL / Daily News)

Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon’s wishes have been answered as fiscal court magistrates unanimously voted to start accepting bids for a feasibility study for a long-needed expansion of the Warren County Regional Jail.

“It’s not a thing that you need to celebrate that we need more bed space in a correctional facility, but in a community that grows at the rate which ours does, the incarcerated population grows also,” Harmon told the Daily News after the meeting.

Original portions of the jail were constructed in 1987, with additions completed in 2001. The building currently has bed space for 562 inmates. However, the average number of inmates is much larger.

Harmon told magistrates the head count Thursday morning stood at 700. At one point in 2017, the jail had 815 inmates. On average, between 675 and 750 people are housed in the jail, the lion’s share for serious offenses.

“A majority of that number is felony charges,” Harmon said. “So this is not misdemeanants. These are not folks that are in on a very minute crime. These are folks that are here on felonies that are not deemed by court safe to be in the community.”

The feasibility study will determine the best course of action for expanding the jail. Harmon said it will examine constructing new additions or even building an entirely new facility.

Expanding the jail has been on the county’s radar before. In 2019, a study was completed which revealed that adding 225 beds to the jail would cost about $12 million.

Magistrates heard a presentation on a jail expansion during county government’s planning session in January. Harmon said then that a price tag for enlarging the jail was unknown given higher costs for building materials, but it would be money well spent.

“Those are dollars that need to be allocated, and I mean soon,” the jailer said then. “It needs to happen — it’s a constitutional duty we have to take care of those folks while they’re in custody.”

Per diem reimbursements come into the jail from state and federal governments for inmates booked in on state and federal crimes. Harmon said roughly $35 per inmate comes from Frankfort and $64 per inmate comes from Washington, money that supports the jail’s budget and can help with any expansion needs.

Harmon said if an expansion based on the 2019 study was done today, 225 beds would not be enough, given the population growth of Bowling Green and Warren County.

“I would think we would look to add way more than 225 beds,” he said.

As for a timeline, Harmon said the county hopes to open up for bids on Aug. 4. By December or January, the goal is to have an idea for the next steps brought before fiscal court.

He said the study will look at infrastructure such as plumbing and electrical, and will examine ways to bring the jail into current building code requirements. If all goes to plan and details are worked out in time, the county would be looking at a two- to three-year project before completion.

Nonetheless, the ball is rolling.

“This truly is step one,” Harmon said. “There’ll be many more steps before we actually have a real solution, but just to get out of the gate and get this started is a good day for us.”

Fiscal court will meet again July 24.