Despite the threat of legal action and questions about approval from the sheriff, Cuyahoga County appears poised to borrow close to $900 million to start construction on a new county jail.
The total cost, including the price of the 70-acre site in Garfield Heights, the nearly 900,000 square foot jail and the sheriff鈥檚 headquarters, has been reduced slightly since council met last week and is now about $930 million.
On Tuesday night, Cuyahoga County Council voted to borrow the money. A council committee also voted to support the guaranteed maximum contract cost, but the final vote on that won't take place until the May 12 meeting.
Before council鈥檚 vote, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne spoke about a visit to the jail early in his term.
鈥淲e can do better,鈥� said Ronayne. 鈥淎nd I think that this journey that鈥檚 gotten us to this week is a reflection of our commitment to do better by those working there and those in our custody.鈥�
Since planning for the new jail began with the 2019 formation of a steering committee, county officials spanning two administrations have overcome several obstacles to get to this point.
In 2022, the steering committee rejected a proposed site in Cleveland鈥檚 Industrial Valley because of pollution. At the time, the cost of construction was estimated at about $750 million.
Ronayne dissolved the committee when he came into office in 2023 and, later that year, selected a 70-acre site in Garfield Heights to build on. County Council approved that choice over objections from Cleveland officials, who wanted the jail to stay in Cleveland.
But a new obstacle popped up in March when County Prosecutor Michael O鈥橫alley sent a letter to council and the county executive calling for an immediate stop to work at the jail site in Garfield Heights. O鈥橫alley cited a provision in state law that requires the formation of a four-person committee to approve jails plans before starting work.
The state auditor is now investigating, at O鈥橫alley鈥檚 request, whether tens-of-milions-of-dollars already spent before the committee鈥檚 approval violated state law.
On April 27, about a month after the prosecutor's letter, the committee - consisting of Clerk of Courts Nailah Byrd, Probate Court Judge Anthony Russo, common pleas court designee Christopher Russ and Sheriff Harold Pretel 鈥� met one time and voted 3-0, with an abstention by Pretel, to approve plans for the jail.
鈥淲hile no project is perfect, the new jail appears to meet all the necessary requirements for a more efficient and effective jail, including legal, medical and humane standards,鈥� Russo said, reading from a prepared statement before voting.
Pretel cited the ongoing state auditor鈥檚 investigation to explain his abstention.
鈥淲e do need to move. It鈥檚 a terrific project,鈥� Pretel said after the vote Monday night. 鈥淏ut these legislative issues, with the state auditor and all that, I鈥檇 feel more comfortable if those were resolved rather than incur some additional liability.鈥�
At Tuesday鈥檚 council meeting, county attorney Gregory Huth told council he could not guarantee that the auditor wouldn鈥檛 bring legal action against council members if they voted to move forward. Councilmember Patrick Kelly voted no, citing continuing legal uncertainty.
Officials involved in the project pressed council to take action to ensure that bonds were issued in time to cover project-related debts coming due and to make sure subcontractors were available to start work.
鈥淭he project has to proceed in order to maintain that guaranteed maximum price and maintain the [construction schedule,]鈥� said project manager Jeffrey Appelbaum. 鈥淪o, we're at a crescendo point. We have a budget, which is $16 million less than we announced, we have the design builder willing to lock in their part of it and we have a schedule that's ready to go.鈥�
A different state law requires Pretel鈥檚 approval before moving the sheriff鈥檚 headquarters out of Cleveland 鈥� the county seat. Pretel said this week he has not given his approval yet, but did not elaborate on why he is waiting.
Council members questioned borrowing money to build a jail and sheriff鈥檚 headquarters if the sheriff might refuse to move out there, but that issue was not enough to force another delay.
The schedule as it currently stands is to issue bonds by the beginning of June with construction expected to last into fall of 2029.
