JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County jail has been a fixture in downtown Jacksonville for over 30 years. But talks of moving it from its current spot by the St. Johns River have ramped up for the last year or so. Jacksonville residents, like Jakaree Gadsden have paid attention.
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“I feel like moving it would be a good thing for downtown,” Gadsden said. “It would be better.”
Gregory Mason agreed, saying a pretrial detention facility doesn’t aesthetically fit the area.
“The apartments that are over there, I wouldn’t want to live there if there’s a jail over there,” Mason said. “And plus, it would be better without the jail because it gives it a bad look.”
Given the complexities of relocating a jail, Jacksonville leaders are hoping to get some guidance during the annual JAX Chamber trip next week. This year, the group of over 100 attendees will head to Indianapolis. Local reports in that region show Marion County, Indiana, added a new jail outside of downtown Indianapolis back in 2022. City leaders including Mayor Donna Deegan, Sheriff T.K. Waters, and School Board Chair Darryl Willie are among those on the roster.
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Jacksonville City Councilman, Ron Salem, is not going on the trip, but has been at the forefront of the jail relocation discussion. He assembled a special committee looking at the jail and understands the goals of this upcoming trip. One of the main challenges is the estimated multi-million-dollar cost of the project. Another challenge is selecting the right location to meet the needs.
“I know the sheriff is in the process of looking at a consultant that would assist him in picking a site and the size,” Salem explained. “What we don’t want to do is pick a site and then have to squeeze something in.”
Salem says a big priority is inmate healthcare. He believes a campus-style facility with different wings for healthcare mental health services is what the city needs. He said instead of transporting inmates to UF Health for care, providing it inside the facility would be beneficial, if properly equipped.
“We’re spending several million dollars a year in transportation costs and about a third of our indigent costs at UF Health are inmates,” Salem explained. “So, there’s a lot of potential savings if we do this correctly.”
Salem hopes for the best coming out of this trip.
“I hope they come back with some great ideas on maybe some things Indianapolis learned from their transition that we could gain from that,” Salem said. “And to make our process a lot easier.”
The JAX Chamber said other topics to be discussed include:
- Sports Council — attracting events to the community
- River/Canal Development (similar to Emerald Trail)
- Higher Education in Downtown
- Children’s Museum
- Small business development
Over 100 people will go on the trip and are expected to leave Wednesday. The JAX Chamber told News4jax that everyone who goes on the trip pays their own way.
Click here for a full list of who is going to Indianapolis (Note: Jodi Stevens in an External Affairs Contractor for Episcopal Children’s Services, not the CEO.)