Anoka passes resolution objecting to county’s plan for new downtown jail

The long-running battle over where to build a new Anoka County jail raged on this week with the Anoka City Council on Monday passing a resolution objecting to the county’s plans to rebuild the facility on the current site in the city’s downtown.

Last month the County Board approved a resolution to replace the aging jail with a new and expanded complex between 3rd and 4th streets, and approved the proposed design concepts presented by Wold Architects. The resolution also directed the county to move forward with submitting plans and permits to the city for approval.

Just days before that vote, Anoka Mayor Phil Rice sent a letter to county commissioners asking them to hold off on a vote until the results of a study looking at the feasibility of consolidating or merging county jails and alternatives to incarceration are released this fall.

Anoka County officials have been talking about replacing the jail since 2017. The Minnesota Department of Corrections has noted deficiencies with the current building, which does not have enough room for inmates, is not safe for deputies and staff, and had other safety issues, officials have said.

The jail on Van Buren Street can house up to 238 inmates, with overflow inmates housed at facilities outside the county at taxpayers’ expense. A new facility could house as many as 540, plans show.

Anoka city officials have floated a plan to build a justice center with a courthouse north of town on the site of an old state hospital. The city is open to exploring “feasible alternatives,” the resolution passed on a unanimous vote states.

A new state law passed last year granted Anoka County permission to build a facility in a city other than the county seat.

“You need to work with us and make it work for us,” said City Council Member Erik Skogquist before Monday’s vote. “That is what good partners do.”